Spain’s Muguruza wins China Open

Bacsinszky, who will move into the top 10 by virtue of reaching the final, struck an early break to go 2-0 up in the second but saw Muguruza quickly respond to get things back on serve. “To see you are improving, on the tennis side, but also in the rankings, it’s that moment when there’s only three more in front of me”.

Beijing, October 11 (IANS): Top women’s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their eighth title of the season as a team, with a 6-7 (9), 6-1, 10-8 victory over Chinese Taipean pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan in the China Open final here on Saturday.

“For me, to be able to come and win the tournament after losing in the finals of Wuhan last week is a great achievement”, she said at the trophy presentation.

The Spanish tennis player was down 2-5 in the first set to Bacsinszky, the world No. 17, but she rallied and mounted an epic comeback.

Muguruza was rocking at 2-5 down but after holding serve with a rasping backhand down the line, she reeled off five games in a row and gobbled up her first set point when her opponent flashed a forehand wide. “This has been an energizing year for me”. Though she didn’t play here a year ago, she had reached the final at Guangzhou and the quarter finals at Wuhan just before, accounting for Maria Sharapova in the latter.

“She’s a great competitor”, Bacsinszky said.

She will now face Garbine Muguruza, one of three players to have already booked their place in Singapore. “I’m really happy with how we’re working together”.

Considering Muguruza’s solid form for the past few weeks, the head to head and their respective playing styles, I predict Muguruza will finally win a Premier level title. “Tough match in general, but I think I played well”, Nadal said.

Perhaps because of the weight of expectation, perhaps due to the physical stresses of an intense first seven months, Muguruza struggled to make wins on the hard courts of North America.