Muguruza-Badosa, semifinal of the women's Masters
The Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza, fifth in the world ranking, defeated the Estonian Annet Kontaveit 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday and qualified for the semifinal of the Akron WTA Finals in Guadalajara.
Forced to play well to qualify for the semifinal, Garbiñe went out to look for the duel and soon took advantage, by breaking Kontaveit's service in the first game, who was slow to get into the game.
Little by little the Estonian improved in a duel in which the two rivals erred more than usual; the break of the Spanish weighed and although the performance of her first service dropped in the tenth game, she won it and signed a 6-4.
The same story was repeated in the second set. Muguruza broke off at the start, taking advantage of the Estonian's mistakes with her forehand, one of her weaknesses in the match.
Frustrated, Kontaveit hit the ground with her racket, but that helped her little because with mobility on the court, good shots from behind and effectiveness with her backhand, the Hispanic was headed to victory.
In the 10th game, the Spaniard double-faulted and threw a ball out, recovered but Kontaveit had a breaking point. Garbiñe reacted with cold blood and thus signed his access to the phase of the best four.
The Teotihuacán group concluded with Kontaveit and Muguruza qualified for the semifinal with two wins and one loss, ahead of Czechs Karolina Pliskova (2-1) and Barbara Krejcikova (0-3).
Shortly before, Pliskova rose after an erratic first set to beat Krejcikova 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.
This Monday, at the close of the Chichén Itza group, the Spanish Paula Badosa, already classified for the semifinal, will face the Polish Iga Swiatek and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka against the Greek María Sakkari on her birthday, in a duel that will decide the second semi-finalist.
The WTA Finals takes place in Guadalajara, western Mexico, on a fast track with a prize pool of five million dollars.
