Garbine
Muguruza hammered out her WTA Finals threat in no uncertain terms on Monday as
she celebrated her rise to world No.3 with a straight-sets dismissal of Lucie
Safarova.
The
imposing Spaniard, playing her debut match at the season finale, quickly shook
off her nerves to win 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and extend a run of form which has taken
her to two straight finals.
In
Monday's other White Group round-robin match, Germany's Angelique Kerber beat
ailing 2011 champion Petra Kvitova 6-2 7-6 (7-3) as she also made a winning
start in Singapore.
Muguruza
turned 22 at this month's China Open, where she won her second career title,
and has soared to a career-high third in the world in the latest rankings
released on Monday.
And
second-seeded Muguruza, the player of the moment on the women's tour, made no
bones about her ambitions to rise further to world number one -- and stay
there.
"I
don't know how far I can get in the ranking, but definitely I'm trying to, you
know, be there, top, and not only to arrive, to try to stay there," she
said.
"I
always had it in my mind that I could be up there... step by step I'm trying to
be there," Muguruza added.
The
result was also sweet revenge for Muguruza, after she lost to Safarova in this
year's French Open quarter-finals, before going on to finish runner-up at
Wimbledon.
Muguruza
scored two breaks in the first set and recovered from an early break of her own
service in the second to get it back on serve at 3-3.
Ninth-ranked
Safarova, 28, fought off four break points to make it 4-4 before the set went
to a tie-break -- which Muguruza won handily to wrap it up in just under two
hours.
Both
were Grand Slam runners-up this year to Serena Williams: Muguruza at Wimbledon
and Safarova at Roland Garros, where she beat the Spaniard in straight sets in
the last eight.
"In
Roland Garros she played an amazing match. I think today I played a very good
match also," Muguruza said.
"I
just wanted so much to win. I was fighting and you know, just very
concentrated," she added.
In
the later match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kerber, 27, won a battle of
the lefties with Safarova's Czech compatriot Kvitova, 25.
Kerber
rolled over a distracted-looking Kvitova, the world number five who has
struggled this year with glandular fever, to win the first set 6-2.
The
Czech regrouped and used deft net play to put up a strong challenge in the
second set, with both scoring three breaks each in furious cross-court
exchanges to reach 6-6.
But
world No.7 Kerber prevailed 7-3 in the tie break.
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