Muguruza dominates ahead of U.S. Open
Garbine Muguruza cradled her smiling face in both hands and closed her eyes, taking it all in. The Wimbledon champion had added another title to her breakthrough summer, this one at the expense of a player who can’t quite get to No. 1.
Muguruza defeated Simona Halep 6-1, 6-0 for her first Western and Southern Open title on Sunday, needing only 56 minutes to extend her run of success. She also denied Halep yet another chance to move up to No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
“Honestly, I was thinking in her situation, it must be difficult,” Muguruza said. “But I wanted to win the title as well.”
Muguruza won her first title in the U.S. and her second of the year, along with Wimbledon. In three tournaments since, the Spaniard has at least reached the quarterfinals. Now it’s on to New York for the U.S. Open, where she’s got a history of disappointment.
“The tough matches never go my way, so I want to change that,” she said. “I want to find the recipe this year.”
It was a big disappointment for Halep — the third time this season that she needed one more win to move up to No. 1 and couldn’t get it.
“Maybe I feel the pressure and I don’t realize it,” Halep said.
“Maybe I just played bad. I don’t know what to say. But it’s still there, I still have a chance, so I will work for it and maybe one day it will be there.”
Muguruza broke her to go up 2-0 in the first set and was in control. Halep won only 12 points in the set, which lasted 23 minutes. Muguruza broke her again to open the second set and faced only two break points all match.
The bracket was missing Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. Muguruza knocked off defending champ Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-2 in the semis.
On the men’s side, seventhseeded Grigor Dimitrov beat Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5 for his first ATP Masters title, emerging from a bracket decimated by injuries to top players.