This year’s Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza edged past Timea Bacsinszcy with 7-5 6-4 to lift the biggest title of her career at the China Open in Beijing, a Premier Mandatory Tournament. Thanks to the win in the Chinese capital Muguruza will move to World Number 4 setting a new career-high, and is just one point far from world number 2. Muguruza, who has just turned 22, has become the youngest player to win a Premier Mandatory-level tournament since 21-year-old Petra Kvitova won the WTA Finals in Istanbul in 2011
Bacsinszky went down a break in the opening game. In the second game Muguruza dropped her serve after making a double fault and hitting a forehand long.
Bacsinszky broke serve to take a 3-1 lead but dropped serve in the next game when she made a double fault and three backhand errors. Muguruza fended off three break points but dropped her serve on the fourth opportunity.
Bacsinszky held her serve to 15 and raced out to 5-2 but Muguruza fought back reeling off five games in a row to win the first set with 7-5.
Bacsinszky went up a break at the start of the second set but Muguruza rallied from 0-2 down before getting the decisive break in the ninth game to take the 5-4 lead.
Muguruza played her second back-to-back final after losing to Venus Willams in Wuhan last week. The defeat in the China Open final put an end to Bacsinszky’s dream to reach the WTA Finals in Singapore.
“To be able to come and win the tournament after losing in the final in Wuhan last week is a great achievement. It’s amazing and I can’ wait to come back and defend my title next year”, said Muguruza
By reaching her biggest final Bacsinszcy has reached the top-10 for the first time in her career, a remarkable achievement as she suffered from a serious foot injury in 2011 and she took a break from tennis in 2012. She worked in restaurants and bars. In May 2013 she received an email stating that she was eligible to compete in the French Open qualifying round. She lost her first match but she found again the passion for tennis. She hired Dimitri Zavialoff, the former coach of Stan Wawrinka. At the 2014 Wuhan Open she beat Maria Sharapova in the third round.
She started the 2015 season with a final in Shenzhen where she lost to Simona Halep in her first WTA title match since 2010. She then reached the third round at the Australian Open before winning two back-to-back titles in Acapulco and Monterrey. She reached the quarter finals at the WTA Premier Mandatory in Indian Wells in Indian Wells where she lost against Serena Williams. At the Roland Garros she beat Petra Kvitova to get through to the fourth round where she lost against Serena Williams after leading by a set and a break. The Swiss player reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon and moved up to world number 13. She had a difficult US hard-court season losing in the first round in four consecutive tournaments in Toronto Cincinnati, New Haven and New York but returned to her best shape during the Asian Swing where she reached the China Open final where she beat three former top ten players Carla Suarez Navarro, Sara Errani and Ana Ivanovic.
During the post-match interview Bacsinszcy took the opportunity to thank her coach Dimitri Zavialoff.
“I want to dedicate this tournament to someone. I came from really far away. I almost retired two years ago and this man, my coach Dimitri. Thank you for helping me every day. You brought Stan to the top 10 and now youhave brought me to top 10. Thank you for every day”, said Bacsinszky.
