The WTA professional circuit is through another week and this time the last headline of the week will be written down on paper at Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati having Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza fighting for the title. It's been a solid week for both players who made few wrong steps en route to the final act.
For Muguruza, this is her first WTA final since 2017 Wimbledon Championships, while Halep is also in a WTA final act for the first time since losing the 2017 French Open final to Jelena Ostapenko. But, the individual stakes are a bit different.
For the Spaniard is the moment to confirm her top status as a Grand Slam title holder and a future ruler of the game. On the other side, Halep is making her fourth bid to reach the world No. 1 spot now that Karolina Pliskova, the defending champion in Cincinnati is out.
Garbine Muguruza knocked down the defending champion Pliskova
En route to her first-ever final in Cincinnati, Garbine Muguruza put in some serious effort. In the semis, she had to deal with Karolina Pliskvoa, the current world No. 1 and the 2016 Cincinnati winner. Entering the encounter, Muguruza was clearly the underdog as she had lost their previous six matches ( all were played on a hard court). Muguruza had only one victory over Pliskova and that on clay back in 2013.
Pliskova, 2016 US Open runner-up, had a slow start losing on her own serve at the start of the set. It was a minor but essential bridge for the Spaniard who kept her nose in front.
Staying strong on her own serve, she forced the mistakes from Pliskova's racket. At 5-4 for Muguruza, the 25-year-old Czech served to stay in the set and failed to survive the assault handing over the set by 6-3.
Having a one set lead, Garbine cruised through the second set not allowing too many chances to her opponent. Losing her nerves, Pliskova kept making errors and Muguruza drew the curtain after she managed to put away the fifth match point she had.
Simona Halep and a great deal of consistency in Cincinnati
The 25-year-old Romanian got past a deflated and apparently tired Sloane Stephens in straight sets by 6-2 6-1 in a bit under an hour of play.
It's a compelling performance from Halep who made it to her second Cincinnati final after losing the 2015 edition to Serena Williams. Against Stephens, she didn't show any signs of lacking strategy or control of the match. After the first games of the match, it was clear as daylight that the American will have to work hard to maintain a small gap between her and Halep. It proved to be an impossible task as Halep was all over the place hammering Stephens and not allowing her to settle in for her big, powerful shots.
The final will feature these two in-form WTA players whose goal is clear. In head to head stats, Muguruza leads Halep by 2-1 but it's been more than two years since they had their last match-up. So, there is another reason to keep a close eye on this match.
