Garbine Muguruza Becomes First Spaniard to Win WTA Finals Title

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza is ending the year with a bang…

The 28-year-old Spanish Venezuelan tennis player defeated Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 7-5 to win the WTA Finals title for the first time in her career and improve her record playing in Mexico to 14 wins and two losses.

Muguruza, who won back-to-back titles in Monterrey in northern Mexico in 2018 and 2019, became the first Spaniard to win the women’s season-ending tournament.

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was a runner-up two times, the last time in 1993.

Muguruza’s past successes in Mexico motivated her to play in the WTA Finals. In the ceremony after winning the title, she recalled telling WTA CEO Steve Simon at the US Open that she wanted to play again south of the Rio Grande.

“To qualify, the whole year with my team, I was saying to them, ‘It’s in Mexico, we have to make it, c’mon.’ It was my biggest motivation,” Muguruza said.

The former No. 1-ranked Muguruza, who was a semifinalist in the WTA Finals in 2015, also became the oldest champion since Serena Williams won it in 2014 and will finish the season at No. 3 in the rankings, her best performance since 2017.

Muguruza was backed the whole week by a raucous crowd who gathered at Estadio Akron to cheer and clap for her as if she were one of their own.

“It’s funny, the other day I was speaking with my manager. … He was like, ‘You know what, for the first time, Garbine, you’re really using the crowd, really getting that energy and using it on the court. You should do that more often,'” said Muguruza, who entered the Estadio Akron wearing a Mexico soccer team jersey for her last two matches.

“I think a big lesson to me is I should get the energy from the environment. I’m very supported here in Mexico. I don’t know if it will be everywhere, but I used it this week for sure.”

Despite the loss, Kontaveit, who moved from No. 30 in the rankings into the top 10 in the past few months, is projected to finish at No. 7 in the rankings.

Muguruza took control early in the match with three breaks against an erratic Kontaveit, who played better in the second and got a break in the ninth, but the Spaniard broke the Estonian’s next two serves to win it.

The WTA Finals were played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

Garbine Muguruza Defeats Paula Badosa to Reach First-Ever WTA Finals Title Match

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special first for Garbine Muguruza…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional tennis player dominated compatriot Paula Badosa in a 6-3, 6-3 victory on Tuesday and will now play for the WTA Finals title for the first time in her career.

The sixth-seeded Muguruza, who lost in the semifinals in 2015, is the first Spaniard to reach the singles final since 1993, when Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was runner-up to Steffi Graff.

“I’m very happy with my performance, it was the best match I played here in Guadalajara,” Muguruza said. “It’s the first time we encountered each other. I’m very proud of Paula, she started the year back in the rankings and made all the way to the top 10.”

Muguruza now has a 13-2 record on Mexican soil, where she won back-to-back titles in Monterrey in 2018 and ’19.

Muguruza awaits the winner of eighth-seeded Anett Kontaveit and fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari, who play the other semifinal match later at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara.

Muguruza started the season-ending tournament with a loss to third-seeded Karolina Pliskova but bounced back with victories over second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova, Kontaveit and Badosa.

“I don’t feel like a favorite, maybe on paper or for the TV, but I don’t feel like it,” she said. “I started here losing and I thought that I could be eliminated, so for me to say that I feel like a favorite for the final is complicated.”

Muguruza reached 41 victories this season, her most in a single campaign since 2017 when she finished with 45.

Muguruza broke the seventh-seeded Badosa in the third game and then held to win the first set in 35 minutes.

In the second set, Muguruza had a break in the second game, saved a couple of break points in the third and never looked back.

Badosa, who turned 24 on Monday, was the youngest player in the semifinals. The Spaniard finished a breakthrough season that saw her crack the top 10 for the first time in her career.

“It was a tough day, I did not feel myself and she played good, all the credits go to her,” said Badosa, who earlier in the tournament said that Muguruza was her inspiration. “I don’t really know what happened today. I’m sad that I could not compete.”

The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

Paula Badosa Advances to Semifinals at the WTA Finals

Posted on November 14, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa is on to the next round…

The 23-year-old Spanish tennis player has extended her winning streak to eight matches on Saturday with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari to qualify for the semifinals at the WTA Finals.

After edging Sakkari, Badosa had to wait for the result of the late match between Iga Swiatek and top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who prevailed 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, to see if she advanced to the semifinals as the top player in her group.

“It was quite a tough match. I served well. I fought for every point. I knew was going to be a battle against Maria,” said Badosa. “I think I stayed aggressive. I was moving well. When you win these kind of matches you have to do a little bit of everything well.”

The WTA Finals, canceled last year because of the pandemic, are played in a round-robin format with the top two players from each group of four moving on to the semifinals.

The semifinals will be played on Tuesday and the final is set for Wednesday at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico.

Badosa, ranked No. 63 a year ago, is having a breakthrough season. She won the first two titles of her career in 2021 (Belgrade and Indian Wells) and is among the six players to have made their top-10 debut this season.

“To be honest, I’m quite new. I was 70, 80 in the world at the beginning of the year. I think I got my first top-10 win maybe four months ago, and I needed experience,” Badosa said. “When I got that experience, all of that things, it went well. I think I’m quite competitive. I think I needed a little bit to adjust myself, to be here and play these kind of matches, to learn.”

Swiatek, Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit and Barbora Krejcikova, all of them playing at this tournament, are the others along with Ons Jabeur, who narrowly missed out on a place in Guadalajara.

“I think it was a very high-level match from both of us. Even though I lost, that gives me a lot of confidence for my last match in the round-robin,” said Sakkari, who remains in contention. “I haven’t seen any combinations or anything. I know that I’ll give myself a better chance if I win the next match. I’m just going to focus on that. Anything else, it’s just irrelevant at the moment.”

Sakkari will play Sabalenka on Monday for the last remaining semifinal berth. Kontaveit has already secured a semifinal place in the other group.

Sabalenka, who won titles in Abu Dhabi and Madrid this season, is the first seed in Mexico because world No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia decided not to defend her WTA Finals title due to continuing COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions. Barty had to undergo two weeks of quarantine when she returned to her Brisbane home in September after the U.S. Open and did not want to do the same again traveling to Mexico.

The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

Paula Badosa Upsets Top Seed Aryna Sabalenka in Debut Career Match at WTA Finals

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa is off to a stellar start…

The 23-year-old Spanish professional tennis player, competing in her first-ever WTA Finals, started off slowly but won 10 games in a row to upset top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 on Thursday in their opening match at the WTA Finals.

Sabalenka, the world´s No. 2-ranked player, dominated early in the match to take a 4-2 lead, but Badosa recovered and won four games in a row to win the first set and then controlled the second with three breaks.

“I played pretty good, the conditions here are tough to play, but I played an amazing match. I knew I had to play like this to beat her,” Badosa said.

Sabalenka, who won titles in Abu Dhabi and Madrid this season, is the first seed in Mexico because world No. 1 Ash Barty of Australia decided not to defend her WTA Finals title due to continuing COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions.

Barty had to undergo two weeks of quarantine when she returned to her Brisbane home in September after the US Open and did not want to do the same again traveling to Mexico.

“I am really disappointed of myself and this match, but hopefully I can bring myself back,” Sabalenka said.

Badosa is having a breakthrough season after starting the year ranked 70th. She will next play Maria Sakkari, who used her strong first serve to extend her dominance over former French Open champoin Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-4 win earlier Thursday.

“My life has changed so much and very fast, I have so much more stress now with a lot of eyes on me,” Badosa said. “The ceiling is high for me, I have always dream big, I want to play in this type of tournaments to play against the best and being challenged every day.”

All of the players are having to adjust their game to the nearly 5,000-feet altitude of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city.

The tournament, which was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, features a round-robin group stage before the semifinals.

The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return to Shenzhen, China, in 2022.

Garbine Muguruza Outlasts Ons Jabeur to Claim Chicago Fall Tennis Classic Title

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza is celebrating a new title…

The 27-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player rallied to beat Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday in the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic for her second WTA Tour victory of the season and ninth overall.

“I had to be very strong mentally,” Muguruza said. “I suffered that first set, that it didn’t go my way. I just said, ‘OK, this is tennis. I’ve got another set and if I win it, I have another opportunity.’ I definitely gave it all.”

The ninth-ranked Muguruza also won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in March.

Jabeur, ranked 16th, broke Muguruza’s serve in the fourth game of the opening set, and took the set on a sliced backhand winner from behind the baseline.

After Jabeur broke Mugurzua’s serve again early in the second set to go up 3-2, Muguruza broke back to level it up, then won the next three games to win the set.

In the third set, Muguruza won the first 10 points and broke Jabeur’s serve three times.

“It was the final, the moment you have to give everything in the tank,” Muguruza said. “Forcing that decider set gave me all the energy to kind of jump in the score and dominate that third set.”

Muguruza boosted her chances to qualify for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico in November. After entering the weekend ranked No. 9 in the world, she will rise to No. 6 in the new WTA Rankings. The top eight players on the tour qualify.

From Tunisia, Jabeur became the first Arab tournament winner in WTA history in June at Birmingham, England. She has a WTA Tour-high 44 match victories this season.

Caroline Garcia Advances to Seminals at the WTA Finals

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is making the most of her first WTA Finals appearance…

In her WTA Finals debut, the 26-year-old part-Spanish player advanced to the semifinals on Friday when top-ranked Simona Halep lost to Elina Svitolina.

Garcia defeated Caroline Wozniacki 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the early Red Group match, giving both 2-1 records. Wozniacki had already advanced, but Garcia had to wait. When Svitolina beat Halep 6-3, 6-4 later in the day, the top-ranked Romanian was eliminated and Garcia was through as the group winner.

In the semifinals, Garcia will play Venus Williams and Wozniacki will face Karolina Pliskova.

Garcia, playing at a career-high No. 8 ranking after winning back-to-back titles in Wuhan and Beijing, is the only one of the eight players who didn’t have a chance to end the season with the top ranking.

“It was kind of weird, actually, to be here,” Garcia said. “I qualified last minute, two weeks before. I really wanted to keep improving, play every single match and get experience. That’s why I think I won these two matches.

Muguruza Defeats Petra Kvitova to Reach Semifinals at WTA Finals

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza has advanced to the semifinals at the WTA Finals in her first appearance.

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player beat former champion Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 on Friday to reach the semifinals.

Muguruza finished the round-robin stage 3-0 and needed to win only one set against Kvitova to earn a semifinal berth.

The other three players in the group all finished 1-2, but Kvitova advanced because of more sets won.

After losing to Muguruza, Kvitova needed the already-eliminated Lucie Safarova to beat Angelique Kerber without dropping a set, and her compatriot came through by winning 6-4, 6-3.

Kvitova will play Maria Sharapova, who won the other group, with Muguruza facing Agnieszka Radwanska in the other semifinal.

In a match that featured 15 breaks of serve, Muguruza converted her fourth match point with a backhand crosscourt volley to win in 2 hours, 33 minutes.

The Spaniard is also into the doubles semifinals with countrywoman Carla Suarez Navarro, and said the heavy workload is taking a toll.

“For sure I’m tired today,” Muguruza said. “It’s going to a challenge for me to see how much my body can handle, because now I don’t have a day off. It’s great to be in my position I think now, to be playing singles and doubles semifinals.”

Muguruza Defeats Angelique Kerber to Remain Undefeated at the WTA Finals

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Garbine Muguruza continues her winning ways…

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player, who won her first-ever match at her debut WTA Finals earlier this week, has improved to 2-0 in group-stage matches at the year-end event.

Muguruza, the tournament’s second seed, defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday.

Muguruza broke Kerber twice in each set to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 38 minutes.

She’ll next play No. 4 seed Petra Kvitova later this week.

Muguruza Makes Winning Debut in Her First WTA Finals Appearance

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a winning debut for Garbine Muguruza.

The 22-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player won her first match at the WTA Finals.

Muguruza, the second-seed who was making her debut at the season-ending tournament, beat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Monday.

Muguruza is the first Spaniard to play in the WTA Finals since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 2001.

“To go here, and play and win for the first time, it’s great,” Muguruza said. “So I feel now more calm, more in the tournament.”

Muguruza reached her first Grand Slam final this year at Wimbledon, losing to Serena Williams in straight sets.

She was the first Spanish woman to reach a Grand Slam final since Conchita Martinez lost the French Open final in 2000 and the first to do so at Wimbledon since Sanchez-Vicario in 1995 and 1996.

Next up for Muguruza will be Angelique Kerber in Wednesday’s evening session.

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