Muguruza downs Kontaveit to become Spain’s first champion

Spain’s Garbine Muguruza with the WTA Finals trophy on Thursday; (right) Anett Kontaveit. Pics/AFP

Former World No. 1 Garbine Muguruza beat Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to become the first Spaniard to win the elite season-ending WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Muguruza, 28, winner of the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon titles, capped a 2021 campaign that saw her return to the highest level with titles in Dubai and Chicago after three years outside of the top 10. She is projected to end the year at number three in the world.

"I'm just very happy I proved to myself once again I can be the best, I can be the maestra, like how we say in Spanish," she said. "That puts me in a very good position for next year, a good ranking. How can I say? A good energy. It's just the payoff for such a long year," she added.

"My team and I worked hard. It pays off. Just shows us that we're doing the right way." Muguruza said it was a delight to win such a big, big, big tournament, the Masters, in Latin America, here in Mexico. "I think it's just perfect," she said.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was the only other Spanish player to reach the WTA Finals championship match, falling to German great Steffi Graf in 1993 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The event was moved to Guadalajara from Shenzhen, China, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Muguruza was a favourite of Mexican fans. "Definitely I'm very supported here in Mexico," she said. "I used it this week for sure."

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