Muguruza, Pliskova open with wins at WTA Finals
ran’s campaign at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India came to an end at the hands of Spain as the European champion eased its way into the semifinals with a 3-1 victory on Sunday.
It was the Spaniards who dominated proceedings from the kickoff, with Abel Ruiz putting them ahead before the quarter-hour mark, fifa.com reported.
The Spainish captain drove his shot past Iran’s goalkeeper Ali Gholamzadeh on a rebound to give his team the lead.
La Rojita nearly doubled the advantage, but Gholamzadeh made a superb save to deny Cesar Gelabert at his feet, with the ball flying over the Iran crossbar.
Any hopes Iran had of a comeback ended on the hour mark, as Sergio Gomez scored a fantastic goal when he took a Ferran Torres pass before turning and beating Iran’s keeper with long-distance strike off his left foot.
Torres then added a third goal when he finished off Mohamed Moukliss’s low cross.
Saeid Karimi pulled a goal back for Iran which proved to be too little, too late as Spain held on to secure its spot in the last four and a meeting with Mali on Wednesday. Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova registered straightforward victories on day one of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Czech world number three Pliskova breezed past American Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round-robin match, BBC reported.
Wimbledon champion Muguruza of Spain then beat Latvia’s French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4 to join Pliskova at the top of the White Group.
The Red Group gets under way today, with seven of the eight finalists able to finish the year as world number one. Muguruza, who topped the rankings for three weeks this year, is 40 points behind current leader Simona Halep.
Neither Muguruza nor Ostapenko settled straight away in Singapore, with Muguruza eventually consolidating her break with a love hold.
Latvia’s Ostapenko won their last encounter at the Wuhan Open in September but she struggled for consistency here.
Ostapenko hit 21 winners to Muguruza’s 10, but her 25 unforced errors and four double faults cost her as she pushed Muguruza in the final few games.
She forced Muguruza to wait as the Spaniard served for the set, saving three match points, but Mugurza kept calm to secure victory.
Earlier Pliskova, who was world number one for seven weeks in the summer, sped past world number eight Williams in the first match of the day.
Williams, the oldest player at this year’s tournament at 37, has appeared five times at the end of season event and won the title in 2008.
The Wimbledon finalist struggled with her serve against Pliskova, hitting six double faults and making 19 unforced errors to Pliskova’s 12.
However, Pliskova’s consistency showed as she hit 25 winners, along with five aces, to register a speedy victory.