The current world No. 1 and the first seed of the Premier 5 event at Wuhan, China, Garbine Muguruza has brought in an element of stability or rather predictability winning her inaugural match in the main draw where the upsets seemed to never stop flowing in. Earlier today, the second seed Simona Halep was added to the upsets list as she went on losing in straight sets to Daria Kasatkina. For Muguruza is good news regarding the world No. 1 seat as for the moment Karolina Pliskova seems the only one able to hurt her. Leading the upper half of the draw and on a collision course with Pliskova for the semis, the 23-year-old from Spain had to bring in her top game to succeed against Lesia Turenko (50 WTA).

Garbine Muguruza handled the pressure well

Entering the encounter against the 28-year-old Ukrainian player, Muguruza was trailing from behind as her opponent had won their only official match on a WTA level event. With that in mind and knowing that Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open is not a fertile soil for the top 10 players, 2017 Wimbledon champion went on to navigate her way past Tsurenko. She won 6-4 6-4 and the close score mirrors in a perfect way the way things happened out there in the field. Muguruza had to stand firmly on her opposition in order to kill off any hopes from Tsurenko's side. Despite having an early lead in each set, Tsurenko didn't abandon without putting up a proper fight. As a result, the match was 10 minutes away to reach the two hours of play limit.

Surviving this first test on Chinese soil, Garbine Muguruza booked a clash against Magda Linette (83 WTA). The winner of this next matchup will play either Monica Puig or Jelena Ostapenko next. It'll be interesting to watch a potential clash between 2017 French Open winner and 2017 Wimbledon titlist.

Muguruza can secure her seat as the flurry of upsets got bigger

The first day in Wuhan came with a strange wind of upsets as Petra Kvitova, the defending champion, Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open winner, Madison Keys, Angelique Kerber or Johanna Konta were unable to get past the inaugural round. The next day saw some of the top-seeded players surviving the scar while others succumbed.

Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep are the biggest casualties of the latest session of play. On the other side, Pliskova, Muguruza, and Cibulkova they all represent the element of stability as the contest moves into its deeper phases.

For Muguruza it might the right place to put in a statement while at the summit of the WTA circuit. The opportunity is there waiting for someone to grab it and Mugurza is entitled to hope for a positive outcome in China.
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