Muguruza finds form in Tokyo with Bencic win

TOKYO, Japan - No.6 seed Garbiñe Muguruza played one of her most impressive matches in recent months to get past Belinda Bencic

View Profile in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 24 minutes.

Since reaching the Roland Garros semifinals in June, the Spaniard had put together a meagre 4-4 win-loss record, culminating in her first loss to a player ranked outside the Top 200 in six years at the US Open to Karolina Muchova

View Profile . Today, though, she rarely looked like losing control of her powerful shots, playing an efficient and cool-headed match to avenge her 2015 loss to Bencic in the quarterfinals of this tournament.

"Very difficult first round," she assessed the match afterwards. "Tough player with incredible wins. Today was tough but I’m glad to win."

Both players got off to a good start, each sealing her first service game with an ace, but it was Muguruza - who maintained a 74% first serve percentage and took three of four break points in the first set - who was able to sustain that form. While the Swiss player was able to show glimpses of the form that took her to World No.7 in 2016, particularly in the ease with which she could steer Muguruza around the court by taking the ball early and continually changing direction, her point construction was too often hindered by her execution in extended rallies. Four forehand errors and a double fault put Bencic down a break for 1-2; a putative winner landed fractionally long to go down a second break for 1-4. Indeed, the World No.39 would be somewhat plagued by double faults, offering up one in each of her service games in the first set, and would ultimately be sunk by her 23 unforced errors against just 15 winners.

The 21-year-old would claw back one of the breaks with a backhand winner, but by now Muguruza's baseline game was clicking. The former World No.1 conjured up a brilliant backhand angle before regaining her double break with rock-solid defence, and a booming body serve that rocked Bencic back on her heels sealed the set on her fourth set point.

Though it's rarely a surprise to see scorching winners come off the feared Muguruza backhand, the second set saw the increasingly confident two-time major champion showing off her full range. A drive volley was the emphatic full stop on a point in the first game; her forehand down the line, a shot that has often been curiously absent from the Muguruza arsenal in some recent losses, was responsible for several ferocious strikes on key points.

A poor Bencic approach shot down break point in the fifth game offered Muguruza the opportunity to take the lead, which she took eagerly by nailing the pass. The 2015 runner-up would battle back, though, upping her aggression on return to break back and inch in front to lead 4-3 - but it was Muguruza's ability to raise her intensity once again that would prove crucial.

Roaring through a sequence of stunning backhands, the Monterrey champion raised her tally of winners to 19 as she reeled off the final three games of the match in magnificent fashion.

In the next round, Muguruza will seek to win consecutive matches for the first time since Roland Garros against either Eugenie Bouchard or Alison Riske - and she's optimistic about her chances in Tokyo this year. "I like to play here," she said. "In the past I've done well, so I'm positive this year that I can do well again and go far."