Venus Williams was leading 6-3 3-0 as Garbine Muguruza withdrew from the final of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open after the first three games of the second set and lifted her first Trophy in a Premier 5 Tournament since Dubai 2010. Before today’s match Williams won her two previous matches against Muguruza. In their most recent head-to-head match Williams beat Muguruza 6-3 6-3 in Auckland in 2014.
In the first set Williams and Muguruza traded breaks twice in the first seven games. First Muguruza got the break in the first game but Williams broke straight back in the second game in which the Spanish player made many errors with her forehand. Venus broke again in the sixth game for 4-2 but Muguruza broke straight back to love in the next game. Muguruza went up 30-0 on her next service game but Venus rallied to claim another break. Venus closed out the first set winning 8 consecutive points with three winners and an ace
From then Williams reeled off five consecutive games to build up a 6-3 3-0 lead. Venus got a break in the first game of the second set. Muguruza went up 0-30 in the second game after Williams made a double fault and a forehand errors. However, Williams reeled off six consecutive points to open up a 3-0 lead before Muguruza decided to call it a day and withdrew from the match
Williams has claimed the 47th title of her legendary career and the biggest win in more than five years. She won her last Premier-5 level tournament in Dubai 2010
Ranked 13th in the Road to Singapore before the final against Muguruza, Venus has moved up to number 9 thanks to her win and is in contention to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore after her great week in Wuhan. She started the Wuhan tournament with straight-set wins over Agniesza Radwanska, Julia Georges and Carla Suarez Navarro before clinching two hard-fought wins against Johanna Konta and Roberta Vinci. She seemed to have picked up an injury but kept fighting until the end. She is the seventh player able to win a tournament after saving a match point. She recovered from 3-5 against Konta and saved a match point against Vinci avenging the defeat of her younger sister Serena against the 32-year-old Italian player in the US Open semifinal.
The WTA Finals in Singapore will be without Serena Williams, who has announced the end of her season but the illustrious Williams family could be represented by Venus in the end-of the season tournament. Considering the absence of Serena and the current shape of Maria Sharapova who withdrew from the first round in Wuhan tournament earlier this week, the race for the spots for the WTA Finals is wide open. If Venus qualifies for Singapore, she could have genuine hopes to play for the WTA Championships title considering her current form.
Garbine Muguruza, who was runner-up to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final, has played outstanding tennis reaching one of the biggest finals of her career this week. She will move up to world number 5 the WTA Rankimg for the first time in her career, a ranking which secures her spot in the WTA Finals. She could have moved to world number 4 if she had claimed the Wuhan title but sadly she had to withdraw after picking up an injury problem in yesterday’s semifinal against Angelique Kerber. She claimed a commanding win over Sloane Stephens in the first round in Wuhan before reeling off 12 of the last 13 games against Ana Ivanovic. Muguruza secured her spot in the Wuhan final with wins over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Angelique Kerber. Unfortunately the Spanish player received a medical time-out at 3-3 in the tie-break of the second set during the semifinal against Kerber
“This is a sad day today. I am very sorry I had to retire today but I had a really amazing week here in Wuhan. I felt so much support from the crowd. I really want to congratulate Venus- She is always a tough player and she had an amazing week as well. For sure we’ll play again soon and it’s going to be a tough match”, said Muguruza.
During the post-match award ceremony Williams congratulated with Muguruza for her outstanding week in Wuhan and was sorry for her withdrawal from the final
“Congratulations Garbine for making the final. I know you had a tough match yesterday. It’s not easy when you don’t play your best and I probably didn’t have a chance if you felt well today”, said Williams
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza beat Irina Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu in straight sets with 6-2 6-3 to clinch their seventh doubles title of the season. Hingis and Mirza were broken three times and had to rally from 0-2 down in the second set but they closed out the match in 69 minutes. They lifted seven trophies in Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou and Wuhan and clinched 13 consecutive match wins without dropping a set.
Diego Sampaolo
