Muguruza eyeing her first win as world’s No.1
Garbiñe Muguruza heads a stellar line-up as she tries to capture her first tournament as world number one at the WTA Wuhan Open this week.Halep - Stephens: French Open 2018 final
Garbiñe Muguruza heads a stellar line-up as she tries to capture her first tournament as world number one at the WTA Wuhan Open this week. The Wimbledon champion suffered a heavy defeat in the semi-final of the Pan Pacific Open to sixth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki at the weekend but is looking to make amends just two weeks after taking the top spot.
Muguruza takes positives from Tokyo experience
“I didn’t show my best tennis here," she said after Saturday’s 6-2, 6-0 defeat in Tokyo. “I'm not going to think about this loss too much. I still feel that this was a good tournament for me to start the Asian swing”.
The top seed faces a tough task in the Chinese city as eight of the world's top 10 are in action. US Open champion Sloane Stephens and runner-up Madison Keys also return to competition for the first time since their Flushing Meadows final two weeks ago. Petra Kvitova is the reigning champion and is eyeing a Wuhan treble after the 27-year-old Czech also won here in 2014. “I'm happy to be back. For sure I have great memories from these two years which I won and I had a few practices out there and I feel good”, Kvitova said on Sunday.
Kvitova brushed Muguruza aside at the US Open before suffering a narrow quarter final defeat to Venus Williams. “I think I played good in the US Open and I hope I can take it with me for the rest of the season” the twice Wimbledon champion added. “I know how the field here is, every match is just very difficult”.
The battle to finish in the top eight and reach the WTA finals in Singapore next month is likely to dominate a hot and damp Wuhan, where world number two Simona Halep, fourth-ranked Karolina Pliskova, Wozniacki, Johanna Konta, Svetlana Kutnetsova, Jelena Ostapenko and Dominika Cibulkova complete the top eight seeds.
Sloane Stephens' star on the rise
Stephens has risen to 12th and could break into the top eight with a continuation of the red-hot run of form that has seen her win 15 of her last 17 matches. It would cap a remarkable rise from languishing at 957th in the world just two months ago after 11 months out of the game with injury.
Stephens, 24, will face China's Wang Qiang in the first round on Monday and Kvitova will go up against another local favourite in Peng Shuai. Keys faces US qualifier Varvara Lepchenko. Muguruza is due to play the winner of the first-round encounter between Carla Suárez and Lesia Tsurenko after receiving a bye.