Muguruza wins first title of 2018 at Monterrey

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Garbine Muguruza put together a massive comeback that earned her the first WTA at the Monterrey Open Sunday. The former number one down heavily in the opening set got aggressive to defeat Timea Babos in a dramatic three setter 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Estadio GNP Seguros on the grounds of the Sonora Club. It was the 24-year old’s first title of the season in what was a full-time effort on her part.

The series between the two has been very lopsided since 2016 with the Spaniard winning all three of their meetings in the WTA. The 24-year-old world number three won at the midpoint of tournaments over Babos two years ago during what became her breakout year in Grand Slams. The Hungarian had a lot to prove back in Mexico with the chance to reclaim her title that she won in 2012. With a lot of effort, the fourth seed in the tournament had just one chance to get the best of Muguruza in what was their first shot at a title in the 2018 season.

She had a good serve to start the match against Muguruza fighting to prevent break points to her opponent. The second game saw the two play the short game sending the competition to deuce that lasted a few breaks before the Spaniard captured the win. They began to up the pace but after six games, it was Babos out front due to Muguruza’s two unusual double faults on her last serve. The gap being open for the Hungarian led her to blanking the number one seed in the seventh a game down of the set.

Serving to stay alive, Muguruza kept things together cutting Babos’ lead by two games with the need to defend against the Hungarian’s urge to close out the set. It took some time in the ninth but after two breaks, the 24-year-old captured the lead in the match leaving plenty of concern for her opponent after 47 minutes. The Spaniard wasn’t quite herself out there making three double faults through the game with two winners and a 52 percent service game. Her coach Sam Sumyk came out to give her advice on how to change up her game and hang in. Thomas Drouet gave Babos positive compliments while telling her to remain consistent as she delivered 10 winners while serving 61 percent on the first serve.

The second was still heavily weighing for Babos as she watched her opponent double fault a fourth time in the match losing straight to love. Babos didn’t give much when her serve came to play putting in all the aggression to beat down the Spaniard. It only led to another double fault in the third but she somehow steadied her game to get on the board ending Babos three game winning streak.

Muguruza showed signs of fighting back to challenge Babos winning a break in the fourth with the hopes of reflecting the same efforts on serve. It was a serve to love for the number one seed who took the lead before taking a chat with Sumyk where she vulgarly expressed her anger during the break. After Babos got even in the sixth Muguruza remained in a fighting spirit but had to play deep in the seventh going six breaks before a return landing short of the line gave her the 4-3 lead.

Muguruza continued to hold herself out front in the set trying with all her energy to put a third set in play. The victory she gained in the ninth had the Hungarian under pressure to act on serve and force the set further. She almost had it locked down with severe winners striking the ball but the same came from Muguruza who wanted to end the set first. She got it after Babos was distracted for a moment before erring to hand the Spaniard one chance to still win the match with a third in play. It was 53 minutes of drama from both ends where the former number one improved on serve winning 68 percent of points notching 13 winners. Babos had a lot of good factors in her game giving the indication that she wasn’t done hunting down a place she had been before.

It began as a tight race with Muguruza leading the way on serve through three games with Babos following suit in the fourth. They remained deadlocked on serve until the sixth when the Spaniard held for the break landing a supreme winner behind the Hungarian. A hold for her in the seventh was just another big statement of her returning dominance that had her up 5-2 with Babos out of ideas. She took a final chat with Drouet who told her that it was on her to make a comeback and telling her to work for it.

The 24-year-old avoided being defeated for the moment but the ball was in Muguruza’s hands to serve for the championship. While there were some tense moments for the Spaniard, she got it done and dusted in 2 hours and 20 minutes. “We had such a good match,” Muguruza said during the trophy presentation. “Were gonna meet in the next tournament so gear up,” she said to Babos.  

Muguruza wins place in Monterrey Open finals against Bogdan

Garbine Muguruza got out of a late jam to move into the GNP Seguros Monterrey Open Saturday evening. The world number three got out of a serious situation in the second set against Ana Bogdan to win 6-0, 7-5 on Estadio GNP on the grounds of the Sonora Club. It was her first advancement to the finals in the tournament with the chance for her first title this season.

This was the Romanian’s biggest challenge of her career with a third career semifinal spot on the line for her facing a former world number one. While this wasn’t a high-level WTA tournament, the opportunity for a big moment stood at the 25-year old’s footsteps. Her three wins including Wednesday’s over American Danielle Collins had her facing Muguruza who has stood and defeated her opponents swiftly. The world number three allowed ten games total through her three victories that including a bagel in the second set against Ajla Tomljanovic on Wednesday. With the ease of making it deep into her second appearance in the tournament, the number one seed looked to keep her pace strong.

She served up a shutout in the opening game to Bogdan who was ready for the early reception. The Spaniard kept the heat on breaking the 25-year-old Romanian that followed with another service hold. Despite the fact that it went to deuce, Muguruza’s cross court shots and winners of the like kept her out front with a 3-0 lead. Bogdan showed a tough time recovering from the deficit committing two double faults in the fourth game with no help from the second serve. It gave the world number three every comfort on court to dictate her way to a runaway.

She took the two required to cap the set with a final battle in the sixth where she broke the serve of Bogdan in two breaks to finish the first set in 26 minutes. Bogdan had a lot wrong with her offense but the power of Muguruza didn’t give her a lot of chances to get into gear. The point alone had her second serve below 30 percent while winning four of nine points on the first. Serving off the Spaniard was also a problem winning 5 of 18 on the returns leaving a lot to be fixed going into the second set.

She somehow got it together breaking Muguruza to prevent a shutout from happening again but hoped to prove her worth on serve. She held the number one seed again gaining a footing in the set that Muguruza trailed after three. It was 3-1 in favor of the Romanian who not only found her serve but put together cross court winners that had her in control. The 24-year-old responded with a strong hold in the fifth blanking Bogdan that brought the margin back to one game between the two.

Bogdan refused to give up any more service games taking the sixth with the hope of pushing the match to a third set. She almost had a double break within reach in the next game but a big comeback from the Spaniard allowed her to deliver key winners to stay within a game of Bogdan. It became a point of who would blink first and for the former number one her battling off the Romanian proved important as the longest rally of the game got her to deuce.

The pressure got to her where after failed attempts to close out the service game went in favor of Muguruza who leveled the score at four all. Bogdan smashed the ball that hit one of the ball kids in the leg leading to the umpire giving her a warning. When the serve returned to the hands of Muguruza, she regained the lead on a long ball error from Bogdan. She had the chance to end the match playing her opponent’s serve which held together getting Muguruza to err on the return side. They went onward with the set with Muguruza still leading the way with another shot at ending the day. With some magnificent defense and counterattacks in the 12^th, the Spaniard achieved her main mission setting up match point attempts where after 1 hour and 21 minutes victory came to her on the second attempt.

“I really started playing well in the first set and then the second set was just a battle and I’m really happy that I won,” she said after the match. She’ll face Timea Babos on Sunday where she would try to get back to her past achievements in the tournament while Muguruza hunted down her sixth WTA championship.

Babos delivers blow to Puig at Monterrey Open

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Timea Babos made it look too easy at the GNP Seguros Abierto Monterrey Friday evening. For the first time in six years, she reached the semifinals with a well-rounded 6-4, 6-2 win over Monica Puig at GNP Stadio on the grounds of the Sierra Madre Tennis Club.

The two met back during their ITF days where the Puerto Rican won over Babos in straight sets seven years ago. Since her run at Miami, the 24-year-old Olympic gold medalist has been on a push to increase her dominance in the game and become a tougher competitor to those she faced. Her wins over Nicole Gibbs and Stefanie Voegele have her just a few matches from her first WTA title of the season.

The Hungarian found herself back in Mexico trying to return to the top like she did in 2012 winning the title. The efforts in Wednesday fight against Naomi Broady gave her victory in a three setter that nearly went two consecutive tiebreakers. She would no doubt see a challenge from Puig as the Hispanic had a lot of popularity in the recent locations she has played at.

She came out in fine form winning both her opening service games with Babos performing the same feat. Babos gave herself an easier way of conducting her serve on Puig by landing winners on the T making the returns very difficult to get back. Putting her offense in play on Puig’s serve allowed her the first break of the set with the hope of making it stand out in front of the number five seed.

She took control leading 4-2 after another solid hold put Puig on the hot seat to recover lost ground. The 24-year-old held the seventh but was under pressure as Babos hunted for the fifth win she wanted to possess. The Hungarian battled with the Puerto Rican through a couple of breaks before her own redirect gave her the win. Babos tried to go for the break but was shut out by Puig’s clean serve to love that put her a game down from pushing the set onward. Babos took a conference with her coach who told her to intensify her offense and get the set done. It was achieved by the number four seed as she reached three set points before a short rally came to a close with Puig’s return landing wide of the sideline.

While there was a lot of good moments in the 36 minutes it took to finish the set, the objective of Babos to maintain her dictation at the right moment paid off. She served 62 percent on serve with four aces, eight winners and just three unforced errors. Puig had trouble from the start returning against her opponent winning on one of 11 attempts.

Her overall game continued to slide at the start of the second set trying to get out of a 0-40 hole but falling to the fourth seed. She continued to struggle giving Babos another lead in the match. Puig ended the losing streak briefly in the third but watched Babos keep her two-game buffer together. It looked as if the Puerto Rican lost ways of coming back against the fourth seed who was clearly having her best day on court taking another break from Puig.

She made it 5-1 with a really impressive display on serve where one game stood between her and a semifinal spot. The attention went to Puig in the seventh serving to stay alive in the tournament. She pulled off two winners and an ace before getting the win on smash that came back long of the line. Babos felt no worries going back on serve for the match in the eighth getting three match points against her opponents unforced errors. An ace near the line brought an end in one hour and three minutes in a very good display of dominance.

With all the elements going right, she’ll prepare for Saturday’s match against American Sachia Vickery who is on the hunt to make her presence known on the WTA tour.