IT was an action-packed week of WTA Tour events, as a Grand Slam winner further confirmed her WTA Finals spot with her second title of the year, and a Belgian veteran upset a younger opponent on her home court.

CHICAGO FALL TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WTA 500 FINAL RESULT:

[2] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) defeated [6] Ons Jabeur (TUN) 3-6 6-3 6-0

Spanish Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza has dug deep to run out victorious at the WTA Tour 500 event in Chicago, defeating the in-form Ons Jabeur in a come-from-behind win. After dropping the first set 6-3, Muguruza fought back to win the second 6-3, and then not drop a game in the third with a bagel set to win 3-6 6-3 6-0 and grab the all-important title. At 2-3 down in the second set, Muguruza put the foot down, winning 10 consecutive games to close out the match.

The match lasted 97 minutes, with Muguruza winning 66 and 50 per cent of her first and second serve points off a 67.6 per cent clip. Whilst Jabeur was strong off her first serve (63.8 per cent), she struggled winning just two of eight off her second serve. Muguruza broke six times to three, including three times in the final set, and handed the 27-year-old Spaniard her ninth career title, and second of 2021 after her remarkable triumph in Dubai earlier this year.

Muguruza rose three spots up from ninth in the world to sixth ahead of Indian Wells, whilst Jabeur rose two spots from 16th to a new career-high of 14th. Semi-finalists in Chicago, Belinda Bencic and Elena Rybakina rose two and one spot respectively up to 10th and 16th. The result also has an impact on The WTA Tour finals run, with Muguruza moving to within a safe sixth spot, whilst Jabeur sits just outside the qualifying spots in ninth after her sensational year.

ASTANA OPEN WTA 250 FINAL RESULT:

[2] Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) defeated [1] Yulia Putintseva (AZ) 1-6 6-4 6-3

Meanwhile in Nur-Saltan, experienced Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck spoiled the party for home nation hero and top seed Yulia Putintseva in a battle of the top two ranked players at the event. The 27-year-old world number 89 won her first singles title in two years, and fifth overall, with the 1-6 6-4 6-3 victory. It did not look like it early, winning a terrible nine points in the opening term, as Putintseva looked unstoppable throughout, not facing a break point and breaking her opponent three times.

To Van Uytvanck’s credit, she turned it around against her younger opponent, breaking at critical points to close out the match in an epic contest lasting three hours and 20 minutes on the Kazakhstan hard court. Putintseva was cleaner on serve, winning 54.4 and 50.0 per cent of her first and second serves to Van Uytvanck;s 50.0 and 46.2 per cent respectively, and even won eight more points. But the Belgian’s ability to grind – and break six times to four after the first set was the difference.

The title has resulted in Van Uytvanck shooting up to 55th in the world – a rise of 34 spots – while Putintseva moved up to 43rd in the world – a four-spot boost.

CHALLENGER TOUR:

W80: [3] Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU) defeated [4] Anna Bondar (HUN) 6-1 6-1
W60: Marcela Zacarias (MEX) Usue Maitane Arconada (USA)

Third seed Mihaela Buzarnescu claimed a W80 title in Le Neubourg, France, with a one-sided win over Hungarian fourth seed Anna Bondar. The latter was coming off a W80 ITF title at Wiesbaden on the clay, but fell short on the hard courts of France, with the Romanian ending the Hungarian’s nine-game winning streak at the level. The former Top 20 player who is now 33-years-old was also coming off a finals appearance in her last W80 start on clay, but instead went down in straight sets in that contest to Arantxa Rus.

Picture credit: WTA/Jimmie48