Muguruza monsters Halep, takes Cincinnati title

Garbine Muguruza has delivered an almighty blow to Simona Halep in the Cincinnati final, allowing the Romanian just a solitary game on Sunday.

Muguruza’s 56-minute, 6-1 6-0 win denied Halep the chance to take the No.1 ranking, and delivered the Spaniard her second title of the season following her recent Wimbledon triumph.

Muguruza will rise to world No.3 on Monday and take over top spot in the WTA Race to Singapore.

“The match with (Madison) Keys gave me a lot of confidence,” Muguruza told ESPN, regarding her third-round win over the American during which she saved three match points.

“I like the big matches. I believe I play well there. I’m happy to be there, happy to be in that situation. When I was a little girl I was dreaming to be there. That’s where I want to play.”

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The Premier 5 title is the just fifth trophy of Muguruza’s career; in addition to the Wimbledon and Roland Garros titles, she won the China Open in 2015 and Hobart in 2014.

This is the first time she has managed to win multiple titles in a single season.

Halep, meanwhile, was forced to apologise to fans for her performance for the second time in a week.

After using her pre-tournament press conference to say sorry to fans for her dismal 6-1 6-1 loss in the Toronto semifinals to Elina Svitolina, she found herself repeating similar sentiments on Sunday.

pic.twitter.com/VjZNRFpO0R

— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) August 20, 2017

Halep forced a forehand error from Muguruza to get on the board at 1-3 in the first set, yet would not win another game.

She was playing for the No.1 ranking for the third time in 2017, but, like in her matches against Jelena Ostapenko in the Roland Garros final and her Wimbledon quarterfinal against Johanna Konta, she couldn’t get the job done.

Muguruza meanwhile, has won 25 of her last 31 matches dating back to Rome, and is arguably the tour’s form player – especially on the biggest stages.

.@CincyTennis champ @GarbiMuguruza on her fantastic week! pic.twitter.com/pNBaMpmNSq

— WTA (@WTA) August 20, 2017

The result means that Karolina Pliskova – whom Muguruza brushed aside in the Cincinnati semifinals – will be the world No.1 and top seed going into the US Open.

“The US Open is a very long tournament,” Muguruza cautioned.

“It’s completely different. I’m just trying to play well.”