When Garbine Muguruza announced she split with long-time coach Alejo Mancisidor prior to the US open, it came as a bit of a shock. The 21 year old had made her first grand slam final a month prior at Wimbledon, and was seemingly on the rise. The cause is still unknown, but one thing we do know is that she has not wasted any time in finding a replacement.
The Spaniard revealed through her Facebook page that she is working with Sam Sumyk this week in Barcelona on a trial basis. Muguruza posted a photo of them working together with these words: “Leaving today for Asia to play Tokyo, Wuhan, Beijing and Hong Kong; Sam Sumyk will help me this week in Japan. I have been practicing with him in Barcelona and we are testing this week.”
The partnership may only be temporary at the moment, but of course there is the possibility that it could become a more permanent thing if things go well in Tokyo.
The world #9 has been in a slump post Wimbledon, only being able to record one victory, which came at the US Open against Carina Witthoeft. Muguruza fell victim to Johanna Konta in the second round in New York in a long three set battle. This was following back to back defeats in Toronto and Cincinatti to Lesia Tsurenko and Yaroslava Shvedova, both of whom were outside the top 50 at the time.
It is clear that Muguruza has turned to Sumyk as a potential solution to her recent problems. The 21 year old knows she is capable of much more, and she wants to prove it. But what does he bring to the table?
Sumyk has worked with Eugenie Bouchard, Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva in his coaching career. The Frenchman coached Zvonareva from 2007-2009, before moving on to a successful stint with Azarenka. Sumyk helped the Belarusian claim her only grand slam titles thus far in her career at the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013. They would split early this year, and the French coach was taken on by Bouchard as she attempted to reach the next level after a successful 2014. But for some reason it never really clicked with the Canadian. She would only win three matches during the sixth month partnership in that well documented slump. They would part ways in August.
It will be interesting to see where things go with Muguruza if she decides to take him on full time. He can certainly get the best out of a player as we have seen with Azarenka, but his stock has been lowered due to the disastrous relationship with Bouchard.
One of the most notable differences he made with Azarenka was the change in attitude. The former world #1 was a feisty and emotional player in her early years, somewhat detrimental to her progress. Under Sumyk she developed the mental side of her game and became one of the biggest fighters on tour. It helped her to two grand slam titles and a world #1 ranking. Of course there were technical improvements too. The forehand and the serve became bigger weapons during that period of time.
You can certainly see the parallel’s with Muguruza. She might not be as feisty and emotional as a young Azarenka, but we have certainly seen more of that side to the Spaniard this year. Usually a reserved character, we saw the 21 year old start to doubt herself when things are not going her way. We saw her smash a racket in Toronto, and her general attitude has been on the negative side, especially since the defeat to Karolina Pliskova in Dubai. Is it the pressure and weight of expectation that has caused this shift? Is it that Muguruza expects a lot of herself, and when she does not live up to that she gets frustrated? Only she knows the answer to that. Where Sumyk can help is channelling those emotions into a positive. It was the biggest difference he made for Azarenka, and look what happened there. If he can get the same out of Muguruza, you have an extremely dangerous prospect on your hands.
Like every player, the world #9 has technical areas of improvement- After all, no player is perfect. What is alarming is that they are similar to the problems Azarenka had early in her career. The forehand is still a bit iffy and sprays errors when she is not zoned in. The serve is also un-reliable, and given the 6ft and stocky frame of Muguruza, it could be a huge weapon.
Of course, it is speculative at this point. This relationship may not work out and he could be gone after Tokyo. But if Muguruza does decide to take Sumyk on full time, it will be interesting to see how he develops her as a player. There is a lot of potential in the Spaniard, will it be fulfilled?
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