Spain's tennis heroine Muguruza continues to improve

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04:36

In the second edition of Sports Scene's special tennis series, "Beyond the Baseline", Mike Fox sat down with former world number one Garbine Muguruza.

After a tremendous 2017 which saw the Spaniard win her second grand slam at Wimbledon while also becoming world number one and WTA Player of the Year, the 24-year-old has not had the same success in 2018 and is now 14th in the world rankings.

Garbine Muguruza in action during the second round match of the WTA Wuhan Open. /VCG Photo

"It's an emotional year," Muguruza told Sports Scene, "because in 2017 I had one of the best years in my career. Obviously, it's difficult to keep up next year with the same expectation, but it has been an interesting year."

As the first player to beat both Venus and Serena Williams in any Grand Slam final, the former world number one said everybody plays well when they face the top players because they have less pressure.

The 24-year-old has also helped fund a girls' literacy charity to build schools. She said some people around her did not get the same privileges as her, and she wanted to help build a foundation when she's traveling around the world for tournaments.