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Venus Stuns Muguruza To Advance At WTA Finals

Venus Williams gained revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat by Garbine Muguruza when the American advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals with … Continue reading Venus Stuns Muguruza To Advance At WTA Finals


Garbine Muguruza (L) and Venus Williams (R). Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP
Garbine Muguruza (L) and Venus Williams (R). Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP

Venus Williams gained revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat by Garbine Muguruza when the American advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals with a gutsy 7-5 6-4 victory over the Spanish world number two on Thursday.

Both players knew a win would secure a passage to the semi-finals as they held identical 1-1 records in White Group play at the season-ending event but the 37-year-old was stronger on the key points and moved brilliantly around the court to progress.

Muguruza had brushed aside Williams to claim her second grand slam title in July but any hopes she had of repeating the feat were snuffed out by a resolute opponent, who simply refused to buckle in the tense Singapore Indoor Stadium encounter.

The Spaniard twice saw herself take the lead in both sets by breaking her opponent’s serve, but Williams twice came back from behind to win the sets.

The victory enabled Williams, who won this event in 2008, to advance along with pool winner Karolina Pliskova, who won her first two matches but ended round-robin play with a 6-3 6-1 defeat by Jelena Ostapenko earlier on Thursday.

Caroline Wozniacki has already advanced from the Red Group with one round of matches remaining, while Simona Halep, Caroline Garcia, and Elina Svitolina can all still qualify alongside the Dane when play concludes in that pool on Friday.

Reuters