At the end of a season which saw some semblance of normality return to tennis, the coronavirus pandemic saved one final swing for the climax of the women’s calendar. After missing out last year owing to the cancellation of all tennis events in China, in September the WTA Finals were moved from their long-term home in Shenzhen to the Mexican metropolis of Guadalajara.
Two years are an especially long time in the women’s game, and with the world number one Ash Barty retiring at the end of a long season to her home in Queensland, Karolína Plíšková and Garbiñe Muguruza were joined by six new faces in the WTA Finals in the shape of Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejčíková, Maria Sakkari, Iga Świątek, Paula Badosa, and Anett Kontaveit. The eighth seed Kontaveit narrowly pipped Ons Jabeur for the final spot in the tournament by winning the Transylvania Open at the end of October.
Divided as usual into two round-robin groups before the knockout stages, the opening bout of the WTA Finals in Guadalajara saw Konteveit dispatch an error-strewn Krejčíková as she extended her winning streak to 11 matches. Plíšková edged Muguruza at the end of a third-set tie-break, Kontaveit blasted past Plíšková for the first time in four meetings, and Krejčíková proved the whipping girl of Group Teotihuacán as she succumbed to Muguruza and Plíšková despite taking her opponents to three sets.
That left Muguruza chasing victory in her last match, with the former French Open and Wimbledon champion needing to beat Kontaveit to progress to the semi-finals. With the Estonian already qualified at the top of the group, Muguruza used her familiarity with the cooler evening conditions to secure a couple of early breaks as she won through 6-4, 6-4 to snap the 12-match streak of her opponent. Based on set percentages, Plíšková missed out despite also registering a 2-1 winning record.
Things were a little more straightforward in Group Chichén Itzá, where an opening victory for Maria Sakkari over Iga Świątek was followed by a surge from the seventh seed Paula Badosa, who swept Sabalenka and then Sakkari in straight sets. Although she lost to Świątek in her last match of the group, Badosa would progress to join her compatriot Muguruza as two Spaniards reached the semi-finals of the tournament for the very first time.
With Sabalenka, the top seed in the absence of Barty, wresting the upper hand after dropping the first set to Świątek, the big showdown in Group Chichén Itzá saw the Belarusian face Sakkari in the deciding last match. And it proved a titanic struggle for a berth in the semi-finals, as the competitors traded tie-breaks to share the opening two sets. In the end it was the Greek warrior Sakkari who had the edge, coming through 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 to join Badosa, Muguruza, and Kontaveit in the knockout phase of the tournament.
Guadalajara had embraced the WTA Finals with real fervour, from the passionate Mexican crowds to local colour at the airport, where players were greeted by a full mariachi band. The change of location seemed to breathe new life into the end-of-season tournament, and proved doubly convenient given the suddenly fractious off-the-court relationship between China and the WTA.
In early November, the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai appeared to make a lengthy allegation of sexual assault against Zhang Gaoili, a former vice premier of China. With concern mounting over the whereabouts of the former world number 14, over the weekend the WTA called on the Chinese authorities to investigate the allegations, which prompted a delayed response. Hours before the final in Guadalajara, the Chinese media released an email purportedly written by Peng Shuai which walked back the allegations, stating ‘I’ve just been resting at home and everything is fine’.
The WTA chief executive Steve Simon has already cast doubt on the authenticity of the email, saying the message ‘only raises my concerns as to her safety and whereabouts’. But with most of the major tennis tournaments in China scheduled to resume next autumn, there is time for the rancour to subside, while the WTA Finals remain contractually bound to Shenzhen all the way through to 2030.
Back on the court in Mexico, the all-Spanish semi-final went the way of the veteran as Muguruza won through 6-3, 6-3. This was first meeting between the two countrywomen, with Muguruza becoming the first Spaniard to reach the final of the tournament since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario finished runner-up to Steffi Graf back in 1993.
Despite entering the top ten and becoming the first Greek in the WTA Finals, Maria Sakkari might still consider herself the nearly woman of the WTA Tour for 2021. After reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and US Open, she stumbled at the same stage in Guadalajara, storming back in the second set versus Kontaveit only for the wily Estonian to come through 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
At an elevation of more than 5,000 feet, the fast court and high balls in Guadalajara had proved well-suited to Muguruza’s rangy hitting. But despite ending her opponent’s winning streak in the group stage, still it was Kontaveit who entered the final as the slight favourite. Yet backed by the partisan crowd, Muguruza settled more swiftly into the match, snatching an early break before Kontaveit levelled things up at 2-2.
As the set progressed, Muguruza was striking the ball more cleanly with Kontaveit sometimes overhitting and getting underneath her shots. A missed drive volley by the Spaniard gave Kontaveit a moment of respite towards the end of the set, but Muguruza showed the finesse to match her power when she wrapped up the first with an exquisite backhand lob.
At the start of the second set Muguruza was eager to consolidate her hold on the match, pushing for an early break of service. Instead it was Kontaveit who squandered two early break points, with the Estonian section continuing to wave their flags in the crwod as the ability of the eighth seed to grind from behind started to chip away at Muguruza, who cut an increasingly frustrated figure.
Her coach Conchita Martínez wanted her player to put more shape on her shots. Instead Muguruza began looping the ball wide, and after saving a break point of her own, it was Kontaveit who edged ahead at 4-3 with a break of service. Both players looked to put a little more oomph on their serve, with every ace sending $300 towards a WTA-approved cancer research initiative.
After a couple of holds, Kontaveit was serving for the second set, but came apart at the seams as Muguruza extended the rallies and bit down hard on the mouthpiece. Suddenly the Estonian was overreaching for every ball, inadvertently making it a game of hit the lines or hit the tracks. Muguruza broke back, and after another hold she routed her opponent’s serve to win 6-3, 7-5 before falling back to the court in sheer jubilation.
Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova were on hand as everybody commended the success of the first ever WTA Finals in Latin America. Muguruza will return to the top three in the world for the first time since 2018, while Kontaveit will end the year inside the top ten after four WTA titles in her breakthrough season. Confetti burst from a cannon and the sounds of mariachi filled the stands, with the women’s tour no doubt eyeing a swift turn to Mexico’s second city.
