WTA Finals: "Maestra" Muguruza first Spanish winner
The two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Garbine Muguruza (WTA No. 3) was the first Spaniard to win the WTA season finale.
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Nov 18, 2021, 07:38 am
The 28-year-old prevailed against Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6: 3, 7: 5 in Guadalajara / Mexico.
"I'm just happy that I've proven again that I can be the best, the maestra, as they say in Spanish," said the former world number one. She will probably end the year as the third best tennis player in the world.
Muguruza crowns a strong comeback year
For Muguruza, who won the French Open in 2016 and won Wimbledon in 2017, it is the culmination of a comeback year. After three years beyond the top 10, she also won the tournaments in Dubai and Chicago.
"That puts me in a good position for next year and gives me energy," she said: "My team and I have worked hard, it pays off. And it shows that we are doing the right thing."
Before her, only Arantxa Sanchez Vicario from Spain had made it into the final of the WTA finals. There she lost out to Steffi Graf in 1993 in New York's Madison Square Garden.
The German number one Angelique Kerber did not qualify for the finals despite a strong second half of the year. Last year the tournament was canceled due to the corona pandemic.
Finangegnerin Kontaveit: "Proud to be able to play at this level"
Final opponent Anett Kontaveit qualified for the WTA Finals with an enormous sprint at the end of the year, had recently won in Ostrau, Moscow and Cluj-Napoca and has now also reached the final at the year-end tournament. "I'm so proud to be able to play at this level," she said afterwards. It will improve to 7th place in the WTA world rankings and thus look better than ever before.
"Thanks also to everyone in Estonia who got up at 3:30 a.m. to watch my matches," said Kontaveit.
Krejcikova / Siniakova successful in doubles
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won the doubles competition after a 6: 3, 6: 4 over Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens.
The two had also won the French Open and Olympic gold in 2021.