Muguruza wins WTA Finals for first time, beating Kontaveit

Associated PressNov 18, 2021, 6:33 PM EST

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GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Garbine Muguruza’s trip to Mexico started last week with a taste of tequila. After winning the WTA Finals, it ended the same way.

Muguruza defeated Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 7-5 in the final for her first title at the WTA’s elite, season-ending championships.

She became the oldest champion at 28 since Serena Williams in 2014, and finishes the season at No. 3 in the rankings, her best performance since 2017, when she was No. 1.

Before the tournament, Muguruza took a 37-mile (60-kilometer) ride to Tequila, a small town outside of Guadalajara where the popular spirit is produced.

“I went to the town, did a tasting. I need to do this before because when I win …” Muguruza said. “We’re (now) going to have some tequila, have fun, lose all the tension we’ve been having and holding. I think the whole team deserves it.”

Muguruza became the first Spaniard to win the WTA Finals. The first person she celebrated with was coach Conchita Martinez.

The new champion won back-to-back titles in Monterrey in northern Mexico in 2018 and 2019, and her past successes drove her to qualify for the WTA Finals.

“The whole year with my team I was saying to them, `It’s in Mexico, we have to make it, c’mon.’ It was my biggest motivation,” Muguruza said.

All week, she was backed by the locals at Estadio Akron, and reciprocated by wearing a Mexico soccer jersey for her last two matches.

“My manager, Oliver, he was like, ‘You know what, for the first time Garbine, you’re really using the crowd, really getting that energy and using it on the court. You should do that more often,” Muguruza said.

“A big lesson to me is I should get the energy from the environment. I’m very supported here in Mexico. I don’t know if it will be everywhere, but I used it this week for sure.”

Kontaveit will finish the year at No. 7. The Estonian qualified last for the WTA Finals by winning 29 of 32 matches, including four titles in 10 weeks.

She was broken only four times going into the final, but lost her serve five times to Muguruza.

The Spaniard made three breaks in the first set. Kontaveit played better in the second and got a break in the ninth game, but Muguruza broke her next two serves to win.

Earlier, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova defeated Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-4 to win the doubles title undefeated.

Krejcikova and Siniakova won at Roland Garros, Madrid, and the Tokyo Olympics.

“We needed to stay aggressive, and we did it,” said Siniakova, who finished the season No. 1 in the doubles rankings.

Billie Jean King presented Muguruza the trophy bearing her name. The WTA Finals were played in Guadalajara this year because of the pandemic, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

Gael Monfils withdraws from French Open with wrist injury

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS — A thrilling five-set victory took a toll on Gael Monfils, whose withdrawal from the French Open handed No. 6 Holger Rune a walkover to the third round.

The 36-year-old Frenchman said he has a strained left wrist and can’t continue.

He battled Sebastian Baez for nearly four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier before beating the Argentine 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in a first-round match that ended at 12:18 a.m. local time.

The victory was Monfils’ first at tour level this year, as the veteran was coming back from heel surgery.

“Actually, physically, I’m quite fine. But I had the problem with my wrist that I cannot solve,” he said. “The doctor say was not good to play with that type of injury. Yesterday was actually very risky, and then today definitely say I should stop.”

Monfils reached the semifinals at the French Open in 2008 and made it to the quarterfinals on three other occasions.

Mikael Ymer fined about $40K after default for hitting umpire stand with racket

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 3:55 PM EDT

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS — Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer was docked about $40,000 after being disqualified for smashing his racket against the umpire’s chair at a tournament the week before he competed at the French Open.

An ATP Tour spokesman said Ymer forfeited about $10,500 in prize money and 20 rankings he earned for reaching the second round of the Lyon Open. Ymer also was handed an on-site fine of about $29,000.

The spokesman said the ATP Fines Committee will conduct a review of what happened to determine whether any additional penalties are warranted.

The 56th-ranked Ymer, who is 24 and owns a victory over current No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, was defaulted in Lyon for an outburst late in the first set against French teenager Arthur Fils last week.

Ymer was upset that the chair umpire would not check a ball mark after a shot by Fils landed near a line. As the players went to the sideline for the ensuing changeover, Ymer smacked the base of the umpire’s stand with his racket twice – destroying his equipment and damaging the chair.

That led to Ymer’s disqualification, making Fils the winner of the match.

After his 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 loss to 17th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the first round at Roland Garros, Ymer was asked whether he wanted to explain why he reacted the way he did in Lyon.

“With all due respect, I think it’s pretty clear from the video what caused it and why I reacted the way I reacted. Not justifying it at all, of course,” Ymer replied. “But for me to sit here and to explain? I think it’s pretty clear what led me to that place. I think that’s pretty clear in the video.”