Garbiñe Muguruza Magnificent in Mexico to Win WTA Finals Over Anett Kontaveit

By: Thomas Cluck

A season that started resurgent with a fierce new form from two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza Down Under in Australia ended on Wednesday night in Latin America for the Spaniard and sixth seed with the final win of the 2021 WTA Tour season and with it the WTA Finals title. 

Muguruza earned her second victory of the tournament over eighth seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, who ended the season with a tour-leading 48 match wins and winning 31 of 35 matches to close the year on a truly brilliant run that saw four titles clinch her spot here, winning once again in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to lift the Billie Jean King trophy for the first time in her career, the first Spanish woman ever to do so.

Buoyed by passionate Mexican crowds in Guadalajara that adopted the Venezuelan-born, Spanish Muguruza as their own, the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon champion added another big-time trophy to the Hall of Fame resume she is building, a trophy-hunter of the sport’s biggest titles on her CV.

Starting the year a point away from defeating eventual Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka in the fourth round and possibly another major crown with it, Muguruza rode her aggressive, flat style of play, big hitting, confidence, and intensity all the way to season’s end at these year-end championships, the showcase event of women’s tennis, to finally break through the way her tennis had deserved and take home one of the big prizes of 2021, a testament to her game and her impressive team led by her coach and countrywoman, former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez.

With it, Muguruza will rise to number three in the world, and as a former world number one, the Spaniard will surely have her eyes set even higher as a former finalist in 2020 at 2022’s first major in Melbourne.

While she finished runner-up here, Kontaveit, who will rise to a career high ranking of number seven in the world, leaves her first WTA Championships with the biggest final of her career in her back pocket and the second most titles this year only to world number one and two-time major champion Ashleigh Barty, a remarkable turnaround for a talented, big-hitting player that had plateaued at around number 30 in the rankings earlier this season and seemed lost at one point mired in a six-match losing streak. 

Her new coaching relationship with Dmitry Tursunov, who guided Aryna Sabalenka into the top tier of the sport, surely paid dividends and she’ll be one of THE names to watch out for now as a major contender on the women’s circuit.

While tonight in Guadalajara puts a bow on the 2021 WTA season, 2022 will surely be another thrilling year of surprises, breakthroughs, new and old stars galore, and incredible drama and tennis less than a couple months away.