Garbiñe Muguruza was announced this Thursday as co-director of the Mutua Madrid Open, the Masters 1000 which takes place every year between the months of April and May at the Caja Mágica stadium, in Madrid. The extension actor will occupy the same role … as Feliciano López, so that two very recognizable faces of Spanish tennis are at the helm of the tournament in a model of shared and unusual leadership in the world of tennis.
In this month of December 2025, more than a year and a half since the Hispanic-Venezuelan officially announced that she was hanging up her racketalthough their last match took place in early 2023. That is, they will meet soon three years with Garbiñe Muguruza far from the slopesthose who saw her win two Grand Slam tournaments (Roland Garros 2016 and Wimbledon 2017) and reach first place in the WTA ranking, precisely, in 2017.
But a few years later, Muguruza said enough and, after several months of retirement looming over his head, he finally made the decision in April 2024 to focus on his personal life, with the goal, he said, of starting a family. For the moment, the popularizer married in October 2024 with businessman Arthur Borges in Marbella.
The tennis schedule and the dedication it entails forced her to put that aside, especially for a tennis player who has become the best in the world. However, Little by little, Garbiñe began his decline and realized how much, during these temporary breaks, he loved life and did not miss the demands and discipline of a sport like tennis..
A decision, that of withdrawal, which was taken as a “relief”, as she herself once declared, also because during her active career she has enjoyed success from a sporting point of view – in addition to the two Grand Slams already mentioned, she won the WTA Final in 2021 and was a finalist at Wimbledon 2015 and the Australian Open 2020 – and economically (He has accumulated a wealth very close to $25 million just from his exploits on the track.).
At her peak, in 2017, when Garbiñe’s name was at the top of the world rankings, Muguruza managed to win Wimbledon by beating several players who were above her in the rankings, such as Kerber or Venus Williams. The former tennis player remembered those moments in El Partidazo du COPE, where she made a confession that might surprise many.
Garbiñe Muguruza’s reflection on his level and that of men’s tennis
In the interview given to the COPE sports night space, on the occasion of his recent appointment in the organization of the Mutua Madrid Open, Juanma Castaño asked Garbiñe Muguruza which tennis player she could have beaten when the Spanish-Venezuelan was at her best.
His response was clear and forceful. “I think that even a junior beats me by being number one”, which surprised Castaño, who asked him if there was really such a difference between a man and a woman in professional tennis.
To justify himself, Muguruza he gave the example of sparringthese amateur players who are of great help to professionals in preparing and adapting to certain surfaces or playing styles of the rival.
“I think an unranked player can be much superior to a woman in the top 10”
“Every time I had to play a practice set, I ended up getting really angry because I was like, ‘There is no way I won’t win a set from someone who isn’t professionally dedicated.‘. “There’s a lot of difference,” says Garbiñe. “It’s not just about power, but physically, about muscles, about resistance that a man can also have when playing a game… There are a lot of things,” he continues.
Garbiñe Muguruza even sets an example for his brothers. “If I start playing with them, I don’t (beat them). (…) I tell you, a player who is in position 1000 or without ranking, I think, can be much superior to a woman in the top 10″, declared the last Spaniard to have occupied the first place in the world.
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