Four years ago, when she won Wimbledon, Garbiñe Muguruza was seen as the future of women’s tennis – only she won the next big title, the WTA Finals.
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For the statisticians of the tennis scene it was the last match in the annual balance, this 6: 3, 7: 5 at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara. For Garbiñe Muguruza, 28, the Spanish born in Venezuela, it meant infinitely more, as you saw and, above all, heard when, to the delight of the Mexican audience, she spontaneously switched from English to the local language during the winner’s speech. She finally succeeded in proving that “I can be the best, the maestra,” she said happily. That is a great starting point for the new year.
Above all, the title is a confirmation of the ability, perseverance and willpower of Muguruza, which five years ago had been considered the future of women’s tennis in the post-Serena Williams era. At that time she won the French Open on clay in Paris, and a year later on the grass at Wimbledon. But then, instead of the expected dominance, unexpected defeats followed, and it became calmer again for the Maestra, who even lost touch with the top twenty players in the world in 2019. As a trainer, she led the former world-class athlete Conchita Martinez to new stability.
This season Garbiñe Muguruza won the tournaments in Dubai and Chicago and now triumphed at the WTA Finals in the final over Estonian Anett Kontaveit, 25. Before her, only Arantxa Sánchez Vicario from Spain had made it into the final of this season’s final women’s tournament – in 1993, when she lost to Steffi Graf in Madison Square Garden in New York. It was her best year, even without a Grand Slam success, said Muguruza in Mexico: “I have the feeling that I was happier and more stable and less dramatic.”
What does that mean for the statistics? At the end of the year she is again in third place in the world rankings.
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