Garbine Murguruza wins the China Open after defeating Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets in the final.
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Muguruza was rocking at 2-5 down but after holding serve with a rasping backhand down the line, she broke Bacsinszky twice in a row and gobbled up her first set point when her opponent flashed a forehand wide.
“For me, to be able to come and win the tournament after losing in the finals of Wuhan last week is a great achievement”, she said at the trophy presentation.
Wimbledon runner-up Muguruza has already sealed her place in the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore by virtue of her performance in Beijing this week and she will also rise to world No 4, just one ranking point behind Maria Sharapova.
If she reaches the quarterfinals of the Premier Mandatory-level event, she’ll qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time, becoming the first Spaniard to do that since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 2001. Chan Yung-Jan will make her second appearance at the WTA Finals, after qualifying for the 2007 WTA Finals in Madrid with compatriot Chuang Chia-Jung.
“My body is asking for rest, I haven’t recovered completely from my ankle, my body is exhausted and I have to get ready for the tournament of the year”, Muguruza told Efe.
“I’m very happy”, Muguruza said. I think I’m not realising it right now, to be honest, because I’m still playing the tournament. “It’s going to be a battle out there”, she said. “I didn’t know that”.
Bacsinszky, twice a victor in Mexico this year, provided Muguruza with a stern test, leading 5-2 in the opening set and 2-0 in the second. You brought Stanislas to the top 10, and now you’ve brought me to top 10.
The second set was a tighter affair, but Muguruza grabbed the crucial break for 5-4 and she went to match point when Bacsinszky went just long with a hopeful lob.
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But the No.12-seeded Bacsinszky held in the end for the set and rolled through the third, eventually closing it out, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
