WTA Finals: Garbine Muguruza to play Anett Kontaveit in final in Mexico
- Published
Garbine Muguruza is seeking to become the first Spanish winner of the WTA Finals
Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza will play Anett Kontaveit in the final of the WTA Finals in Mexico.
Muguruza's power was too much for Paula Badosa as she beat her fellow Spaniard 6-3 6-3 in their semi-final.
Estonia's Kontaveit earned a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over Maria Sakkari of Greece to secure her place in the final as she tries to win her first major title.
Muguruza and Kontaveit played in a group match earlier in the event, with the Spaniard winning 6-4 6-4.
"I'm very happy," said Muguruza after beating Badosa. "I lost the first match in the round robin [against Karolina Pliskova] and I was already looking for flights [home]."
The encounter in Guadalajara was a first meeting between Badosa and Muguruza, who broke in the third game of the opening set and never looked back.
Badosa was let down by double faults at key times, with one of her six setting up set point, which Muguruza converted with a forehand winner.
Frustration bubbled over for the 24-year-old, who repeatedly shouted at herself and slapped herself on the face at one changeover, and Muguruza capitalised by winning five games in a row to take charge of the second set.
World number five Muguruza overcame a brief wobble when she went 0-30 while serving for the match but recovered to seal victory when Badosa netted a backhand.
She will now seek to go one better than Spain's 1993 runner-up Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and win the title on Wednesday.
World number eight Kontaveit broke Sakkari twice on the way to winning the first set of their match but the Greek levelled to force a decider.
In the third set, Sakkari broke first but she could not hold on to the advantage as Kontaveit immediately levelled at 3-3 before going on to win.
The King of Sumo: How this Hawaii-born wrestler took the sport by storm
Do managers have any sympathy for referees?: Paul Lambert reveals all to Sacked in the Morning
