By sportswriter Michael Butterworth
WUHAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Spanish tennis player Garbine Muguruza says she appreciates the support she has from fans in both Spain and Venezuela.
Although largely brought up in Spain, Muguruza was born in Venezuela's capital Caracas and spend the first six years of her life in the country. Speaking exclusively to Xinhua at the 2018 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open on Tuesday, Muguruza was at pains to point out her split allegiance.
"It's such a tough situation because you cannot play for both countries, you have to pick one," explained Muguruza. "Even if I represent Spain, I always feel very South American. I like it, because people [in Venezuela don't say] 'Oh, she took the Spanish side'. They really support me, and it's great. I have both countries."
The Venezuela-born star was speaking after a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 second round win over Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic at the Wuhan Open, and said she was pleased with her performance.
"I started playing at a very high level and I maintained that throughout the whole match, so I felt like I was not giving her a lot of options, and I was finding the right shots, so it was a pretty good match," said Muguruza.
The Spaniard also praised the facilities on show at this year's Wuhan Open, having reached the final of the 2015 edition.
"These are almost the biggest courts there are, and the facilities are great. I'm happy to be here because it's a very big tournament. I reached the final three years ago, so I feel comfortable."
This year's Wuhan Open has already played host to several shock results, with top ten seeds Elina Svitolina, Sloane Stephens and Jelena Ostapenko all having been eliminated at the hands of unseeded opponents, and Muguruza acknowledged the current unpredictability of women's tennis.
"Everybody can win against everybody. Yes, there is a ranking, but there are a lot of upsets and surprises. There used to be maybe two or three women who were very dominant, and a gap to the rest. Now, there's no gap. If you have a day where you don't see the ball correctly, you're out in one second."
