Muguruza ends drought with Dubai tourney title
Garbine Muguruza ended her almost two-year wait for a title with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 win against Barbora Krejcikova in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday in United Arab Emirates.
“It means a lot,” the ninth-seeded Muguruza said, “it’s never easy to win.”
In her third attempt at a title this season, the former No. 1 hit seven aces and saved seven of the nine break points she faced to beat Krejcikova.
It’s the 27-year-old Spanish player’s first title since winning in Monterrey in April 2019. Muguruza lost the Qatar Open final last week to Petra Kvitova and the Yarra Valley Classic final last month to Ash Barty.
Overall, it’s Muguruza’s eighth career singles title, including two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017.
A Elsewhere: Nikoloz Basilashvili downed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the final of the Qatar Open in Dohha for his fourth ATP title. The Georgian earned the first two break points at
3-2 in the second set, and he took his chance before going on to close out the match in 90 minutes. Basilashvili had only won two matches from his previous 16 going into the tournament, but he saved a match point to defeat Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. … Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev will bid for his 10th career title when he meets unseeded
Pierre-Hugues Herbert in an unusual-looking Open 13 final in Marseille, France. Sunday’s decider pits two-time Grand Slam runner-up Medvedev against a player who owns all four majors in doubles but has never won a singles title, and is ranked 93rd. Medvedev, who climbs to No. 2 in the rankings next week, led 6-4, 3-0 against qualifier Matthew Ebden when the Australian retired through an unspecified injury.
ETC.
Soccer: For the second time in a week, Karim Benzema came to the rescue of Real Madrid’s Spanish league title defense with goals in the final minutes. Benzema scored two late goals to lead a 2-1 comeback win and avoid a costly slip to modest Elche. The French striker’s brace came six days after his 88th-minute goal salvaged a 1-1 draw with league leader Atletico Madrid. Elche defender Dani Calvo headed the visitors in front in the 61st minute at Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium. But Benzema responded with a 73rd-minute equalizer and added an exquisite halfvolley from the side of the area for the injury-time winner. … Robert Lewandowski scored again as Bayern Munich extended its Bundesliga lead with a 3-1 win at Werder Bremen. Lewandowski took his season tally to 32 league goals and matched the record of scoring against 16 different teams within a season. He managed the same feat last season. Former Bayern great Gerd Muller and Bremen
Astriker Ailton are the only others to manage it. Lewandowski has so far only failed to score against Leipzig this season. The teams meet in Leipzig on April 3, when the Poland striker will be aiming to become the first player to score against every opponent in a season. … Sassuolo boosted its chances of qualifying for the Europa League by beating Hellas Verona 3-2 to leapfrog its opponent into eighth place in Serie A. Manuel Locatelli got Sassuolo off to the perfect start by firing the hosts in front in the fourth minute but Darko Lazovic leveled two minutes before halftime. Filip Duricic restored Sassuolo’s lead shortly after the break. Federico Dimarco volleyed in another equalizer in the 79th but Hamed Traore scored what was to prove the winner three minutes later.
A Winter sports: Katharina Liensberger ended Austria’s six-year wait for a women’s World Cup slalom victory in Are, Sweden. In the last race before the World Cup Finals, Liensberger overtook first-run leader Mikaela Shiffrin with a free-flowing final run, beating the American by 0.72 seconds. Shiffrin, who turned 26 on Saturday, was chasing her 70th career win. … Marco Odermatt won a men’s World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, to go top of the discipline standings with one race remaining. The Swiss skier had a blistering final run as he improved from fourth position to win the race by more than a second.