Ever since Garbiñe Muguruza and Barbora Krejcikova were drawn in the same group at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, the acrimonious conclusion to their US Open showdown has been the elephant in the room. Neither player has alluded to the controversy that erupted between the pair as Krjecikova closed in on a straight-sets victory at Flushing Meadows, when Muguruza was angered by the ailing Czech’s slow play following a medical timeout, but it is unlikely either has forgotten the incident. “So unprofessional,” stormed Muguruza during a frosty handshake in New York; “I was humiliated by a grand slam winner,” an unhappy Krejcikova later told the Czech press.
Such strife is uncommon in the women’s game and, despite the best efforts of all concerned to skirt around the issue beforehand, it added a frisson of intrigue going in to their fourth meeting of the year. To no one’s great surprise, Muguruza had her game face on as she emerged from the bowels of the Estadio Tenis Akron to a rapturous reception from a Mexican crowd that has adopted the Venezuela-born Spaniard as one of their own. The feeling is mutual. Muguruza has made no secret of her delight at the decision to stage the event in a Latin American country, but she was unable to translate that zeal into victory in her opener against Karolina Pliskova and, having lost in a third-set tiebreak against the Czech, her continued interest in the tournament hinged on avoiding a third successive defeat to Krejcikova.
Things looked unpromising for the former world No 1 when Krejcikova, who needed at least a set to avoid elimination after losing her opener against Anett Kontaveit, reeled off four games in a row to move ahead 6-2. It was a patchy start from both women – Muguruza’s 18 unforced errors narrowly outnumbered the Czech’s 15 – but Krejcikova was the more consistent of the two, converting all three of her break point opportunities. Conversely, a tense-looking Muguruza struggled to make her superior firepower tell, producing just two winners and finding the court with a meagre 58% of her first serves. Did she want it a little too much?
“I felt like in the first set I wasn’t doing enough,” said Muguruza. “Every time I served, she would break me or I would not dominate. I feel like the serve is such a weapon. Here in the altitude, I had to do something different. I concentrated a lot on making those first serves at least, so I could hold my serve, then try to break her. That was definitely a key today.”
Indeed it was. With the crowd firmly behind her, Muguruza claimed an early break as Krejcikova drove a pair of forehands long, and consolidated her advantage with some vastly improved serving. A second break soon followed and, although Krejcikova struck back to win two games in quick succession from 4-1 down, the Spaniard held firm. Moving more freely and striking the ball with greater authority from the baseline, Muguruza found the court with 71% of her first serves, firing down five aces as she levelled the contest.
“In the second set the crowd really helped me,” said Muguruza. “I said [that] before, and I really mean it, because they cheer me up. I realised that, hey, I’m not leaving this court without changing things around at least, or giving Barbora the biggest fight.”
That she did. Having sealed a vital break at 1-1, smoking a forehand winner to convert her sixth break point after an epic 12-minute struggle, Muguruza sustained her momentum to complete a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. How much did it mean to her? Any doubts were quickly dispelled, first by the gleeful relish of the clenched-first celebration she directed towards her coach, Conchita Martínez, and then by a perfunctory handshake with Krejcikova that was notable for a lack of eye contact.
“I think she served pretty well,” said Krejcikova, who will face Pliskova in her final match of the round-robin stage. “I know that she can just raise her level up. It’s really tough when she’s serving well, especially in here with the tough conditions. I’ve been just trying to find a way. I was just a little short at the end. But I think I did a really good match, I did a really good performance … Today’s match was really close. I was just the one that was unlucky. That’s it. That’s how I see the match.”
If Muguruza is to progress from Group Teotihuacán, she will need to make an impression on the winning machine that is Kontaveit. A 6-4, 6-0 victory over Pliskova made it a dozen wins in a row for the Estonian, who booked her place in Guadalajara with successive titles in Cluj-Napoca and Moscow. With her first win in four meetings against the Czech, Kontaveit, the world No 8, is now guaranteed a place in the semi-finals.
“I think I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I was 3-0 down in previous matches,” said Kontaveit. “I think every time you step on the court, you have a new opportunity. The previous matches don’t really matter. It’s a new day and you have to beat the player you’re playing against. That’s how I approach the match.”
Key to Kontaveit’s success has been her ability to adapt to the high-altitude conditions in Guadalajara. “I think with every shot here, the ball takes off a little bit,” she reflected. “It’s just [about] trying to get used to it, play solid in your service games, not give any easy points, try to stay as focused as you can, make as many first serves as possible.”
Pliskova, who missed three chances to claim an early break, led 30-0 as she served to stay in the opening set at 4-5. But a Kontaveit return that clipped the net tape and died gave the Estonian a foothold in the game, and she needed no second invitation, taking the set with some blistering play off the ground.
“You can see she’s confident,” said Pliskova. “I’m sure she’s lucky at some times, but of course she’s playing great tennis right now. Sometimes I think when you are on this kind of streak of winning matches, you don’t really think [about] what to do, how to do [it], what happens if you play like this. I think she’s just really not thinking much, playing great tennis overall, for sure with a lot of confidence. But to me, it was not about if she’s playing well or not. I was playing normal, and she was just playing extremely well.”