Over the last week, Venezuelan-born Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza made it no secret that she was thrilled to see the season-ending Akron WTA Finals played in Latin America for the first time. Perhaps, fittingly, she's leaving Guadalajara as champion.
Seeded No. 6, the two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 won her first title at the year-end event in her fourth career appearance by beating No. 8 seed Anett Kontaveit in Wednesday's final, 6-3, 7-5.
"It means really a lot to me to win such a big, big, big tournament, the Masters in Latin America, here in Mexico. I think it's just perfect," Muguruza said.
"I'm just very happy I proved to myself once again I can be the best, I can be the 'maestra', like how we say in Spanish. That puts me in a very good position for next year, a good ranking. How can I say? A good energy. It's just the payoff for such a long year. My team and I worked hard. It pays off. Just shows us that we're doing the right way."
Muguruza is the first Spanish player to win the WTA year-end singles championship, having been just the second to play for the trophy. Previously, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was runner-up in 1993--ironically, the year Muguruza was born.
The 28-year-old finishes 2021 at world No. 3 in the rankings, her highest finish in four years, after having been ranked as low as No. 36 at the end of 2019.
The championship match marked the seventh time that two players played for the trophy after first meeting in the round-robin: Muguruza qualified second in the Teotihuacán Group behind Kontaveit. After losing to Karolina Pliskova in her opening round-robin match, Muguruza came from a set down to beat Barbora Krejcikova and beat Kontaveit, 6-4, 6-4, in a "win-and-in" scenario for her after the Estonian had already clinched the top spot in the group.
"I was stressed at the beginning because I wanted to do so well. I had a tough group. I didn't start well. But I was like, 'Okay, calm down, you wanted to be here, this is your dream, you are here, you still have a chance, so be quiet for a little bit, stop complaining, just keep fighting, hold there, hold to your little chances you might have,'" Muguruza said.
"Me and [coach] Conchi [Conchita Martinez], we were speaking. We were just seeing all the good and positive things. I know we lost, but we're here. You have a chance. We're not leaving from Guadalajara without just giving it all. Look where I am now with that mentality, keeping positive. I made it."
A runner-up finish nonetheless capped a stellar second half of 2021 for Kontaveit, who posted a sparkling 29-5 record since winning in Cleveland, the final event of the US Open Series. The Estonian won four titles in a seven-event stretch to soar into the WTA Finals as the final qualifier, and she improved her ranking from world No. 30 to a career-high world No. 7—becoming the first Top 10 player from Estonia.
"I was just so happy to qualify here and to make it to the finals. It feels incredible. Very proud of what I've achieved in the second half of the season," Kontaveit said.
"I think it definitely has given me so much confidence, so much self-belief. Looking forward to just taking some time to reflect, just think of what has happened in the last few months because I've been playing matches non-stop so there hasn't really been any time for that.
"I think I'm excited for the next season. Really want to keep this momentum up, just keep improving on my game, have a very good pre-season with [coach] Dmitry [Tursunov], just keep working. I think we're doing the right things. My game is definitely improving in the right direction. I'm very excited for what's to come."
Top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won the doubles title by beating Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens in the final, 6-3, 6-4. A first year-end crown capped another banner year for the Czechs in which they also won the French Open and the gold medal in Tokyo, while their victory assured Siniakova the year-end world No. 1 ranking.
