History created as Garbine Muguruza sets up historic all-Spanish semifinals with Paula Badosa
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Garbine Muguruza defeated Anett Kontaveit to enter the knock-out rounds of the 2021 WTA Finals. The Spaniard who is seeded 6th in the tournament, beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-4 6-4, ending her 12-match winning streak. With this win, Muguruza not only ended Kontaveit’s journey but also 3rd seed Karolina Pliskova’s. This victory has ensured Muguruza a semifinals spot in the 2021 WTA Finals.
Garbine Muguruza, the former French Open and Wimbledon champion, has had an average season so far. After bowing out of the third round at Wimbledon, she reached the Round of 16 at the US Open. Afterwards, she won the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic and made it to the quarterfinal in Moscow. She is currently ranked 5th in the world.
With her resounding victory over Anett Kontaveit, Garbine Muguruza set up the first all-Spanish semifinals clash at the year-end championships. She will be facing countrywoman Paula Badosa in the semis.
“I played the best match out of the three,” Garbine Muguruza on her match with Anett Kontaveit
After her straight-set victory over Kontaveit, Muguruza spoke to the media. She said, “Today was a match that was kind of everything or nothing. Starting the round-robin with a loss, it was never good. To finally get two wins and qualify was amazing. Today I think I played the best match out of the three. Cutting this long run from Anett, I was like, ‘Okay, is it going to be me the one to stop her?’ Yeah, just to maintain my serve and to dominate, try to do less mistakes than her also because the conditions are tough.”
Garbine Muguruza on setting up an all-Spanish semifinal: “I didn’t know all of this history”
The upcoming match between Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa will be the first time two Spaniards have advanced to the semifinal stage at the WTA Finals. So far, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario has been the only Spanish player to go beyond the group stage at the WTA Finals. Arantxa was a semifinalist in 1989, and the runner-up in 1993. The Muguruza-Badosa duel ensures Spain a place in the finals. To this, Muguruza said “This is amazing. I didn’t know all of this history. 1993, I was born that year. It’s amazing there are four players left and two of them are Spaniards. I mean, that just shows that Spain has a great level of tennis and a great school. It’s going to be a fun match. It’s like you said, historical. Hopefully the crowd is going to be on the match. Whoever plays better is going to get the final.”
Garbine Muguruza on playing in Latin America and motivating young Latina tennis players
The 2021 WTA Finals are taking place in Guadalajara in Mexico, the heart of Latin America. Muguruza, being a Spaniard, has garnered quite a bit of support. “Yeah, definitely Latin America. The Latin America environment, air, people, crowd, everything. I love it here. I feel so home and welcome. People are very good with me. I guess that shows in my tennis, I don’t know. It is very special for me. This is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to play the Finals here. I’m very, extremely motivated” she said about playing here.
Muguruza also hopes that the Spanish clash will encourage young Latin American tennis players. She said “This is going to motivate young girls from Spain, Latin America. They can relate, hear us talk, get a more familiar feeling of tennis, not always seeing foreign players. This time they can be more close to us.”
Also read: “We’re not young anymore,” Alexander Zverev on the breakthrough of younger players
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Aradhana Nayak
(189 Articles Published)