Julia Görges has reached the third round of the WTA Premier Mandatory in Madrid after a hard fight. The 29-year-old made up for a set deficit against Lara Arruabarrena from Spain and won 2:6, 6:4, 6:2 after one hour and 47 minutes.
“In the end I am glad that I could impose my boot on her for one and a half sentences,” Görges said in an interview with tennisnet. The first set did not run at all after the presentation of the eleventh set of the tournament. The first serve was too rare, ten of the twelve points played went to the Spaniard.
“She played very, very aggressively and got me out of my zones,” said Görges. “I tried to be aggressive, but I didn’t find my range.”
When she broke again in the second set, she stood with her back to the wall. But in recent weeks, Görges has worked intensively to believe in her strengths when she was left behind and knew “that she can be broken”.
The fact that the Spanish spectators cheered on their compatriot didn’t bother the five-time WTA title holder: “I had expected that, I was even surprised that some Spaniards were for me”.
With more spin and more intense angular play against the often low Arruabarrena, Görges fought back and won the game. Throughout the game, she beat 44 winners – twelve of them aces – with 35 unforced mistakes.
From her point of view, Görges has made a good transition to sand. She had deliberately put in a tournament week in Charleston to prepare for sand from the American hard courts.
The WTA event in the USA is played on green ash, “that’s actually a hard court with a little sand on the surface,” as Görges describes. She was able to gradually adapt her game to the matches in Madrid and Rome.
The failed tournament week in Stuttgart with the first round defeat against Marketa Vondrosova is over, in his home town Regensburg Görges could recharge his batteries. “I’m already on a positive path. “The way I played was a pleasure.”
After reaching the semi-finals in 2011, Görges has had little to gain in Madrid in recent years. Only two victories in the main field in the last six years were won by the Rebensburgerin, a brand she has already equalized with this year’s third round entry.
There awaits the Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who recently presented herself in a strong form. “We have a lot of respect for each other,” Görges said. “It will be a very open match. “I know what’s coming, I’m sure she’ll feel the same way.”
Before that, however, Görges will play in doubles with Karolina Pliskova, against Sorana Cirstea (Romania) and Sara Sorribes (Spain). “This is my absolute favourite double partner,” Görges stressed. “We’ve had a lot of fun in doubles over the years, that’s the most important thing.”
The effort for the double is small, since both are anxious to make fast the point. They also want to compete in doubles in Rome. “We can still work on a few things for the individual. “It’s super relaxed for me.”