Garbine Muguruza's 'unexpected' journey from winning WTA Finals to running the show

Most tennis players choose to spend some time away from the sport once they hang up their racquet. But for Garbine Muguruza, taking on the role of tournament director of the WTA Finals just a few weeks after she announced her retirement from tennis was a no-brainer.

The former world No 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion hadn’t played a professional match for over a year before she officially shared news of her retirement in a press conference at the Madrid Open in April.

When the WTA and Saudi Tennis Federation came knocking on her door shortly after, offering her the position of tournament director for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, she immediately accepted.

The Spaniard says the 15 months she took between her final match and her retirement announcement helped her “digest everything” and by the time she broke the news to the world, she felt like she was already on to the next chapter of her life.

“It was unexpected, this opportunity. I wasn’t expecting it,” Muguruza told The National in a recent interview ahead of theWTA Finals, which kick off at King Saud University this Saturday.

“I’m so honoured that the WTA thought of me in that way, that they have trusted me with this responsibility; to me it’s a very big deal, just to move from tennis to another perspective, of making events.”

Understanding the industry

Muguruza, who won the WTA Finals in Guadalajara in 2021, has shared a locker room with most of the players that will be competing in Riyadh next week.

The tour believes that close connection between Muguruza, 31, and her former peers can help enhance player experience at this year’s edition.

“I think the players are going to be comfortable to talk to me. That’s really something that is different this year, having a familiar face they can rely on and make them feel safe in a way,” she explained.

For Muguruza, getting to know all the ins and outs of what it takes to stage an event of this magnitude has been eye opening.

“I’m shocked with the amount of work and how they take every detail. When you’re a player you don’t realise any of this,” said the Wimbledon and French Open winner.

“You’re like a horse [with blinkers], just concentrating. But I’m really learning so much [about] the industry, the business of sport. That’s very important to me because I do want to understand every concept.

“I’m very excited, it’s such an opportunity. When they told me, I said immediately ‘yes’. It’s a new project, it’s a new market. I couldn’t wait to start.”

Muguruza has made multiple trips to Riyadh since taking on the tournament director role, participating in various community engagement activities.

Last month, just 10 days before her wedding, Muguruza joined WTA Community Ambassador Judy Murray in a series of tennis clinics dedicated to kids, teachers, and coaches.

“I’m noticing that tennis is not a very strong sport in the country. I think it’s going to now go through a bit of a shake up with all the tournaments and all the activities and the influence,” said Muguruza.

“Hopefully through the tournament, the people can be more influenced to play some tennis and to be motivated.”

Feeling like a ‘rookie’

When Muguruza told reporters she was retiring, she looked calm and at peace with her decision, despite the fact she didn’t know exactly what she was going to do next.

Many players struggle to dissociate their identity from their profession, and when they retire it gets harder to understand themselves without the sport they dedicated their lives to.

Muguruza took her time navigating those feelings, and came out the other side feeling excited.

“I don’t think I dropped a single tear in the whole process,” she recalls. “It’s weird because I’ve been playing tennis since I have memory and I identify myself as a tennis player, forever and ever, and I will always be. But there is a time for everything, there’s a chapter for everything.

“It’s always scary to take decisions, to see what’s next, to go into the open world. I’ve always been accustomed to my little sports world, tennis world, so what now? Everything is new, you feel like a rookie in everything, that’s something that I keep feeling all the time.

“But it’s good, it’s exciting. At the beginning I was doubting a little bit, like, 'what’s going to happen?' But it quickly faded away because I was like, ‘Wow, I’m starting a new chapter, I’m so young’, and now I’m just learning about different things and let’s just try and give it a chance. I’m doing so many little different things, it’s very exciting.”

‘Hungry to learn’

Not much has surprised her about life away from competition. She thought she would perhaps get bored without the constant travel and hectic schedule, but somehow that hasn’t been the case.

“I’m so happy to be home with my partner [now husband], my mum, my dad, my brothers, I want to get a dog. I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe I would be bored at home. Maybe I’d like to travel again, but so many opportunities came quite quickly and that fulfilled me so quickly. Like, OK, I have so many things to do, let’s go; I’m so ready and hungry to learn,” she says.

Muguruza married her partner Arthur Borges on October 5 in an intimate ceremony in Spain. She laughs when asked her if she was nervous in the build-up.

“So many people asked me, are you nervous? I’m like I will never be nervous in my life,” she said. “I’ve been so nervous playing finals, nothing can compare to Wimbledon and French Open finals, I’m zero nervous. This is so easy in comparison.”

In order to handle the pressure of the big stage during her playing days, Muguruza came up with unique offseason activities that challenged her both mentally and physically.

While most players flew to the Maldives the moment their season was over, Muguruza, especially later in her career, channeled her inner daredevil. In 2019, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. In 2020, she chose military training with Spain’s Civil Guard, jumping from helicopters, cave-diving, and trekking mountains on search and rescue missions.

She says seeking out those adventures helped her mentally in the seasons that followed.

“I definitely needed something extra. I needed something that will disconnect everything from my mind, that I will not be thinking about the tour, about the rankings, about the schedule, about nothing,” she reflects.

“I wanted to do something with adrenalin, something that will make me feel like I will get out of this experience stronger. I’m going to come out of this trip feeling invincible. I definitely wanted to recharge that part of me, that adventure side, that determination.

“Because it’s tough on the tennis tour, you get the doubts, the ups and downs, I was like, 'I need to recharge this, I need to feel like, let’s go'.

“So not every year, but I definitely felt in certain years that I need to feel strong again, let’s do something crazy.”

Not long after summiting Kilimanjaro, Muguruza reached the 2020 Australian Open, the fourth Grand Slam final of her career. She lost in three sets to Sofia Kenin.

“I definitely felt that I was stronger. Especially my trip to Kilimanjaro, I am 100 per cent sure that I did that Australian Open final because I did that trip. That gave me invincible energy,” Muguruza said.

“Even though I lost the final, even though I was sick. It was a crazy tournament, how it started, how it ended. But that gave me perspective of, OK, there are tough things, but there is also the toughest thing. It’s hard to play a tournament, but it’s also hard to climb something and to be out there, and to do things that are also for yourself.

“Not only for the trophy, for the picture, for the money. This was just a spiritual recharging thing. I think that definitely helped me so many times after, to succeed in tennis.”

Muguruza acknowledges the tennis schedule is unrelenting and can be taxing but she says she never complained about that aspect of the tour.

“Personally, would I have stayed longer [in the sport] if it were different? No, I don’t think so because I never complained about the tour. It is what it is, we have so many opportunities, you can also make your own schedule. You don’t have to be forced to play all the tournaments,” she explained.

“It’s great to have so many tournaments, so many opportunities for players who are not top 50, not top 10. And after you can make your own schedule.

“I don’t think there’s a reason to complain. I think it’s the opposite. It’s great. You make your own schedule and you know your own capacity. Especially if you’re winning a lot of matches, you’re like, OK, maybe I should relax here, maybe I should go harder here.”

Drawing inspiration from Serena and Sharapova

Muguruza is only just starting her post-tennis career and isn’t sure where life will take her. She knows she would love to work with kids in some capacity and also doesn’t rule out coaching someday.

“I don’t know when or how. I’m not ready for what it requires to be a full-time coach, absolutely not. But being part of a team is just so amazing and I’d love to feel that again one day,” she said.

Retired stars like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have been enjoying great success in the business world by investing in numerous ventures and are examples of how to follow a great sporting career with an equally impressive business one.

“It’s so interesting to see what paths people take, because it can be very different. Normally people stay around the world of sport but having Maria and Serena, I always looked up to them so much. Even though we shared the court, they’re a little bit the older generation. I always follow them, I can’t wait to see what’s next for them,” said Muguruza.

“They’re being so successful in different ventures. I obviously would love to be as successful outside of the court than on the court, but it’s yet to see what it’s going to be. I’m just starting.”

Reflecting on Guadalajara

At the moment, Muguruza’s efforts are strictly focused on the WTA Finals, which will be held from November 2-9 in Riyadh.

Muguruza has fond memories of her own from winning the tour’s season finale in Guadalajara three years ago. Muguruza was born in her mother’s native Venezuela before she moved to Spain at the age of six.

Getting to lift the WTA Finals trophy in Mexico meant a great deal to the Caracas-born Spaniard.

Reflecting on her incredible run there, Muguruza said: “It all started in the US Open. Because I was in the US Open and I saw [then WTA CEO] Steve Simon and I was like, ‘Steve, when and where is the Finals?’ Because it was still unknown.

“And he said to me, ‘You know Garbine, there’s a big possibility that it’s happening in Mexico’. And I was like, this is it, this is it, this is my tournament, no one else's. It’s happening for the first time ever in Latin America, I have to make it.

“I didn’t start very well but the support that the people gave me, the crowd cheering for me, being there, I played so well in Mexico. I was so happy that there was a representation of tennis in Mexico, a big tournament.

“And as the only Latin player out there in the Finals, I was like, this is my opportunity, I have to somehow win this thing. The crowd and just being there helped me so much to bring out the best of me.”

When asked to look back on her professional tennis career and describe what legacy she hopes to have left behind, Muguruza doesn’t list any of her titles.

“I never thought of what would people remember me by. Hopefully [being] explosive, happy personality, even if on the court I wasn’t smiling a lot. I think I’m very different on court than outside the court.

“Just a beautiful story, being Latin and just the journey of achieving your dreams, becoming world No 1, starting in a place that no one would have ever thought. That’s what I want to be remembered by.

“Yes, winning Wimbledon, that’s great and everything, but how someone can achieve their dreams by being ambitious and believing. I think that’s my definition.”

“Hopefully someone [in Saudi Arabia] gets inspired, like I did,” she added with a smile.