By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 3, 2021

Not many players in tennis get to finish a week in the fashion that Garbiñe Muguruza did on Sunday in Chicago. Up against a surging opponent, the Spaniard had lost the opening set and was in trouble, down a break and 3-2 in the second set. Then she turned up the intensity and went on a tear for the ages, racking up the final ten games of the contest to emerge with a jaw-dropping 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Ons Jabeur at the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic.



"That was a battle especially those first sets," Muguruza said after the final. "We've played recently this year, in Wimbledon, and it was a very tough match, I knew that she's having one of the best seasons that a player can have and I just was prepared.

"I went out there with all the fighting spirit in the pocket and she was playing amazing in the first set. My level was not what it should be to play against her and I slowly found a space in the second set to be able to break and to get that one and force a decider, and that gave me the extra confidence I needed and also just the energy, the energy to go and get the trophy."

The victory marks Muguruza’s ninth career title, and places her in a very good position with regard to qualifying for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara this year. The Spaniard jumps to sixth in the race and will look to lock down her spot with a good performance at Indian Wells next week.

WTA Race to Guadalajara

1. Barty, 6411
2. Sabalenka, 4669
3. Krejcikova, 4398
4. Pliskova, 3972
5. Sakkari, 3147
6. Muguruza, 3141
7. Swiatek, 31-6
8. Osaka, 2771
9. Jabeur, 2685
10. Mertens, 2438

She certainly has the momentum.

Muguruza rallied from a set down to win a final for just the second time in her career, and the first time since 2018 in Monterrey, when she defeated Timea Babos for the title, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"Well I had to be very strong mentally," she said. "I suffered that first set, when it didn't go my way, then I just said 'Okay, this is tennis I have another set and if I win it I have another opportunity. I definitely gave it all, it was the final, the moment where you have to give everything in the tank, and forcing that deciding set gave me all the energy to be able to jump in the score and dominate that final set, and I wanted to impose my game."

She improves to 37-14 with two titles in 2021, and takes the career edge in her head-to-head with Jabeur at 2-1, avenging her three-set loss to the Tunisian at Wimbledon this year.

Jabeur got off to a brilliant start in Sunday’s final, hitting 13 winners against just three unforced errors against Muguruza in the opening set, but Muguruza was able to raise her game midway through the second set as Jabeur seemed to lose the bite to her shots.

It was a drastic turnaround but it was still an important week for Jabeur, who pushed into the ninth spot in the Race to Guadalajara standings. The 27-year-old moves ever close to a spot in the Top-10, she started the week at 16 and is projected to rise to No.14 in the WTA rankings on Monday.

"It was a great tournament, beating some tournaments that I never won against before," Jabeur said. "I tried hard I fought hard for most of the matches. It was an incredible tournament you know, it's a shame that it ended with a loss and I hope I can learn from this loss."

Despite the loss Jabeur is still excited to be creeping up in the Race to Guadalajara.

"Main goal is to qualify to Guadalajara, this tournament had a big push to help me go through and get my rhythm on hard courts," she said. "I will try my best to improve more and be able to win as many points as possible, especially at Indian Wells and I hope this can help me be able to qualify for Guadalajara."

Jabeur notched her fifth Top-10 week of the season in the quarterfinals when she took out top-seeded Elina Svitolina, and took over the WTA lead for match victories in 2021 with 44 when she toppled Elena Rybakina in the semifinals on Saturday.