Muguruza may pull out of Doha tournament

Dubai - Muguruza, who lost in the third round at the Australian Open, revealed the reason behind her recent struggles.

After having suffered a shock defeat in the rain-delayed second round match that ended in the wee hours of Wednesday night, Garbine Muguruza hinted at pulling out of next week's Doha tournament as she felt the need to work on a few things in practice.
On Wednesday night that saw the fall of many top stars at the Dubai Tennis Championships, the world number five from Spain was a pale shadow of the player that had reached the Wimbledon final last year as she lost in straight sets (7-6 6-3) to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
"I'm not really finding my game, so I think I have to rest a little bit and concentrate again and work hard and eventually come back to tournaments to play again," the 22-year-old Spaniard told reporters after her defeat. "I think I'm not really ready to compete. I need to work a little bit more on my shots and my fitness. So we'll see." So has she already decided to skip Doha?
"Well, I don't know yet, but let's see how I feel. If I'm not 100%, I don't think it's necessary (to go). So we'll see that in a couple of days," she said.
Muguruza, who lost in the third round at the Australian Open, revealed the reason behind her recent struggles.
"I have had a lot of physical problems, sometimes the heel -- well, my plantar fascia was hurting. "So I think I just need to start from zero again and kind of forget these couple of tournaments."
The Caracas-born player, tipped as a future Grand Slam winner by many, says she is not frustrated by these early exits in Melbourne and Dubai. "No. I mean, obviously I'm disappointed. Yes, it's not what I wanted to feel on court. But I knew that this kind of feeling could come. The disappointment, I mean. "So I'm not really worried as I know what I have to do. I think I'll take my time and work on those things!"
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com