Spain’s Garbine Muguruza recovered from losing the first set to defeat Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in the Chicago final on Sunday.
It took time for Muguruza to settle into her stride as she had previously had two walkovers en route to the final – Victoria Azarenka and then Marketa Vondrousova.
And she was quick to acknowledge how hard it was after the match.
“That was a battle, especially those first sets,” she said.
“We’ve played recently, this year at Wimbledon, and it was a very tough match, and I knew that she’s having one of the best seasons that a player can have. I was prepared, I went out there with all the fighting spirit in the pocket.”
Jabeur was fired up from the start and quickly broke serve and took a lead, which she never gave up.
But Muguruza dug deep and from 3-3 in the second set, she won the last nine games to take out the natch.
“She was playing amazing in the first set, and my level was not at what it should be to play against her,” Muguruza said.
“I slowly found a space in the second set to break and to get that one, and force a decider. That gave me the extra confidence I needed, and also the energy to go and get the trophy.”
