Garbine Muguruza has blamed Covid-19 for her early from the Australian Open after the world No 3 was beaten in straight sets by French veteran Alize Cornet on Thursday.
The 2020 runner-up at Melbourne Park was widely seen as a serious contender for the first Grand Slam of the year after an impressive season last time out that included victories in Chicago and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, before clinching the WTA finals in Mexico.
But the two-time Slam winner was dispatched 6-3, 6-3 in Round 2 at Melbourne Park said her preparations had been hit hard after her team tested positive for Covid.
As they were in isolation, Muguruza had to train by herself for a two weeks and while she said that that would not usually bother her, it was not ideal in pre-season.
“It's been a pretty stressful start of the year also with my team. They all got Covid before coming here. We were, like, for 15 days apart,” said the 28-year-old, who won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon a year later.
“It was hard for me for the preparation to come to the Aussie swing and play and perform well. That was tricky a little bit. Physically here I wasn't also feeling my best.
“It's a tricky part of the year also. The pre-season, the start of the season, you are doing the last touches. You kind of want to continue working. That threw me a little bit off.
“Although I had time here to prepare and everything, yeah, I think the combination of everything I think didn't help me.”
Muguruza struggled with her serve against Cornet and hit 33 unforced errors. “It's a tough day,” she added. “My serve wasn't there, I think my shots weren't there also. Tactically I think I wasn't doing the right decisions either,” she said. “On top of that she played very well, very solid game.”
Cornet advanced to the third round for the first time since 2018 and will face Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia, who defeated Britain's Heather Watson 7-6, 6-4.
Sixth seed Anett Kontaveit is also out after the Estonian was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Clara Tauson. “It’s the first time I’m in the third round of a Slam,” said the Danish teenager, who also defeated a top-10 opponent for the first time. “Playing a player like her to reach it, it’s a really big achievement for me. Obviously it was one of the things I really wanted to do, to beat the good players in the bigger tournaments.”
Serving woes continued for Aryna Sabalenka but the second seed still managed to beat China’s Wang Xinyu 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, despite 19 double faults.
The Belarusian lost her opening two matches of the season amid a plethora of double faults and, four matches into 2022, her tally now stands at 70.
Seventh seed Iga Swiatek — the 2020 French Open champion — has had a much easier time of things so far and she eased to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Rebecca Peterson, but it was the end of the road in singles for Australian veteran Sam Stosur, who was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Russia's 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, will only play doubles after this tournament. She said: “It was a good match. I actually feel like I played pretty well, so I’m happy with the fact that that was the last one. I still feel good about what I was able to do out there. Pavs was just too good.
“I think from that aspect, it was nice to finish against someone like her. To finish with someone you know and really respect as a person and player, that was I guess a perfect ending. So I’m very happy.”
Zhang Shuai of China moved into the third round when Kazakhstan 12th seed Elena Rybakina retired from their match while trailing 6-4, 1-0.
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa, Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammad Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Abu Dhabi GP starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7 Romain Grosjean (Haas)
8 Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
9 Esteban Ocon (Force India)
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
11 Carlos Sainz (Renault)
12 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
13 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
14 Sergio Perez (Force India)
15 Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
16 Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
17 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
18 Stoffe Vandoorne (McLaren)
19 Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
20 Lance Stroll (Williams)
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Aya Iskandarani
More on animal trafficking
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More on Quran memorisation:
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Grand slam winners since July 2003
Who has won major titles since Wimbledon 2003 when Roger Federer won his first grand slam
Roger Federer 19 (8 Wimbledon, 5 Australian Open, 5 US Open, 1 French Open)
Rafael Nadal 16 (10 French Open, 3 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, 1 Australian Open)
Novak Djokovic 12 (6 Australian Open, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, 1 French Open)
Andy Murray 3 (2 Wimbledon, 1 US Open)
Stan Wawrinka 3 (1 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 1 US Open)
Andy Roddick 1 (1 US Open)
Gaston Gaudio 1 (1 French Open)
Marat Safin 1 (1 Australian Open)
Juan Martin del Potro 1 (1 US Open)
Marin Cilic 1 (1 US Open)
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
SPECS
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OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Rally schedule:
Saturday: Super Special Spectator Stage – Yas Marina Circuit – start 3.30pm.
Sunday: Yas Marina Circuit Stage 1 (276.01km)
Monday: Nissan Stage 2 (287.92km)
Tuesday: Al Ain Water Stage 3 (281.38km)
Wednesday: ADNOC Stage 4 (244.49km)
Thursday: Abu Dhabi Aviation Stage 5 (218.57km) Finish: Yas Marina Circuit – 4.30pm.
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack
MATCH DETAILS
Chelsea 4
Jorginho (4 pen, 71 pen), Azpilicueta (63), James (74)
Ajax 4
Abraham (2 og), Promes (20). Kepa (35 og), van de Beek (55)
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
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South Africa World Cup squad
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (w), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.
RACECARD%20
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
THREE
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The specs: 2018 Audi R8 V10 RWS
Price: base / as tested: From Dh632,225
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 540hp @ 8,250rpm
Torque: 540Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L / 100km
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