Resurgent Garbine Muguruza in first-ever Australian Open semis

MELBOURNE: Garbine Muguruza stormed back into the Grand Slam big time with an emphatic 7-5, 6-3 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first Australian Open semifinal on Wednesday.

The twice Grand Slam champion will meet former finalist Simona Halep on Thursday for a place in the title match after another confidence-building performance at Melbourne Park on a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena.

Unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2014, Muguruza made few pundits’ lists of pre-tournament contenders and her campaign was almost scuppered by a viral illness.

But the hard-hitting Spaniard now finds herself well-placed to make off with a third major title following her triumphs at Wimbledon in 2017 and Roland Garros the year before.

“I came (here) not feeling great. I wasn’t really thinking, ‘How far will I go?’” the Venezuela-born 26-year-old told reporters.

“I had enough already thinking, ‘How will I go practise today?’

“I took (one) day at a time ... Each day I was gaining a better feeling - instead of getting frustrated thinking (about) the future.”

Since making the 2018 French Open semi-finals, her last trip to the final four of a Grand Slam, Muguruza spent much of the following 18 months in a funk.

She split with her longtime coach Sam Sumyk last July after a first round exit at Wimbledon.

“I think the toughest moment is when you work hard, work like before, or even harder, and you don’t feel like results are coming fast,” she said of the career lull.

“So I think that’s the tricky part for us. Athletes sometimes can get a little bit desperate, get too impatient about it.

“It’s very tough to be for so many years in the top of the game, being that consistent ... Barely (any) players can hold that for many, many years in a row.” (Agencies)

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