By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, October 22, 2017
Garbiñe Muguruza turned back Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-4, winning her WTA Finals White Group opener.
Photo credit: China Open Facebook
Grand Slam champions with a shared refusal to back off the baseline squared off in Singapore.
Playing cleaner combinations, Garbiñe Muguruza turned back Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-4, winning her WTA Finals White Group opener.
More: Pliskova Powers Past Venus
The second-seeded Spaniard used a five-game run to take charge of the second set then held off a late rally from Ostapenko, avenging her 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, defeat to the reigning Roland Garros champion in Wuhan last month.
“She was playing very good,” Muguruza told Andrew Krasny afterward. “At the end of the match, she was using her opportunity. I managed to keep composed and turn it around.
"I think I was fighting very well. My shots were there in the important moments. With Jelena, she’s so young and confident, I knew it was going to be difficult.”
Clad completely in black, including a long-sleeved adidas black track jacket zipped all the way to the top, a buttoned-up Muguruza was all business against an error-prone Ostapenko at the outset.
In a clash between the current and former French Open champions, Muguruza drew first blood breaking for 2-0.
Driving the ball down the lines, Ostapenko broke right back at 15 in the third game, but then lost the plot on her own serve. Successive double faults saw the Latvian cough up the third consecutive break.
Striking with conviction, Muguruza reeled off six straight points stretching the lead to 4-1.
The Wimbledon champion denied three straight break points in the seventh game, but Ostapenko continued to apply pressure. A biting forehand return set up a stinging forehand swing volley for a fourth break point and when Muguruza netted a forehand Ostapenko roared breaking back for 3-4.
Both women are at their best commanding the center of the court and smacking flat strikes into the corners. Muguruza, who earned WTA Player of the Year honors last week, was a bit cleaner and more consistent executing in baseline exchanges.
Belting a backhand return and charging net, Muguruza drew an error converting her third break of the set for 5-3. This time, she didn’t let it slide. Banging a body serve to set up a forehand winner, Muguruza gained double set point and sealed the 36-minute opener when Ostapenko netted a forehand.
Doubling her opponent’s error output with 10 unforced errors in the opening set, Ostapenko held to start the second set. The seventh-seed continued to struggle with net clearance, flagging a backhand into net then netting a running forehand as Muguruza broke for 2-1.
Blasting a crosscourt forehand into the corner, Muguruza issued a firm “Vamos!” holding for 3-1.
The 20-year-old Latvian, like her opponent, is an aggressive baseliner. But in her WTA Finals debut, Ostapenko struggled to keep the ball between the lines. Spraying a forehand wide she gifted another break and a 4-1 lead to the Spaniard after 59 minutes of play.
To that point, Muguruza was nearly untouchable on first serve in the second set. The Wimbledon champion dodged a break point, pumped a serve winner down the T and sealed her fifth straight game when Ostapenko set a backhand beyond the baseline.
Catching the very edge of the sideline with a crackling crosscourt backhand Ostapenko earned game point and finally held on a Muguruza error for 2-5.
Sliding a backhand pass down the line, Ostapenko earned a second break point in the eighth game and broke when the Spaniard sent a forehand long.
Ostapenko, who leads the WTA in three-set matches this season, was eager to push this match the distance as she rolled through a love hold closing to 4-5.
Tightening up, Muguruza let two match points slip away, but caught a break when Ostapenko netted a backhand down the line squealing in frustration at the miscue.
On her third match point, Muguruza drew one final error defeating the dangerous world No. 7 for the third time in four meetings in her first hard-court conquest of Ostapenko.