Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

WTA Rising Star Garbiñe Muguruza made a bright start to her challenge for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global with a straight set win over Lucie Safarova on Monday.

Having wrapped up her qualification with back-to-back finals in Wuhan and Beijing, Muguruza had the luxury of a few weeks away from the tour ahead of Singapore. This freshness shone through early on, some monstrous hitting bringing her a break in the third game. With the Spaniard’s own deliver imperious – she surrendered just four points on serve in the opener – the set was soon in the bag.

Safarova rallied in the second, building an early lead, but she was unable to deny Muguruza, who restored parity before closing out a 6-3, 7-6(4) win when the Czech’s forehand found the net.

“It was a very tough match, I was very nervous as it was my first time her playing singles,” Muguruza told Andrew Krasney on court after the match.

Safarova had prevailed in the pair’s previous meeting – in the French Open quarterfinals this Spring – fuelling Muguruza’s fire to exact revenge this time around.

“In Roland Garros she played an amazing match – I played a good match also – but this time, I don’t know, I just wanted to win so much. I was fighting and concentrating very much,” she added.

Despite the scoreline, through her crisp hitting Safarova’s  contributed more than her fair share to a high-quality first set. She maintained this level at the start of the second and was rewarded with an early break when Muguruza was unable to claw back a forehand onto the baseline.

Muguruza was not trailing for long, thumping another forehand winner to bring up a break back point in the sixth game. A successful Hawk-Eye review on the next point secured the break and she held her nerve in the subsequent tie-break to make a winning start to the White Group.

Source: WTA

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.