VENUS WILLIAMS TO PLAY GARBINE MUGURUZA IN WUHAN SINGLES FINAL, DUBS FINALS WILL BE HINGIS / MIRZA VERSUS THE ROMANIAN TEAM

Written by: Staff on 2nd October 2015

VENUS WILLIAMS TO PLAY GARBINE MUGURUZA IN WUHAN SINGLES FINAL, DUBS FINALS WILL BE HINGIS / MIRZA VERSUS THE ROMANIAN TEAM |

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Venus Williams saved a match point and overcame a determined challenge from Roberta Vinci to earn her place in Saturday’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final. Williams’ 5-7 6-2 7-6(4) win set up a battle for the prestigious WTA Premier 5 title against Garbine Muguruza after the Spaniard survived a late injury scare to overcome Angelique Kerber 6-4 7-6(5).

“It had a lot of ups and downs, said Williams, who saved a match point when Vinci served for the match at 6-5. “I hope that on a day when I’m playing how I’d like, it’s a more straightforward match. She’s definitely tricky. She finds a way to hang in there.”

It’s not the first time Williams has shown her battling qualities this week. She came from 3-5 down against Johanna Konta in the previous round. “It’s the semifinals. It’s not time to get down. It’s time to figure it out,” said the seven-time grand slam champion. “Even down match point, I don’t remember what happened on that point. I do know she had a match point. It’s not over. Just like when I was up and she didn’t give up, I felt the same way.”

35-year-old Williams, who notched up her 700th career WTA match win earlier in the week, should return to the WTA Top 20 thanks to her efforts in reaching the semi-finals, and could go as high as 15 should she win on Saturday. She shows no desire to retire just yet. “I always want to be in finals,” she said. “Even if it was the last tournament of my career, I would still want to be in that final,” she said. “I don’t think that ever changes. It just never gets old and it’s never something that is a given. You have to fight for it. So I appreciate it. It’s not over yet. I still have matches to play. Definitely not satisfied with just making the final. I’d like to take the title and take it a step further.”

Muguruza’s win over Kerber also had plenty of drama, notably at 3-3 in the second set tiebreaker when the Spaniard took an injury time-out after feeling pain in her left foot earlier in the set. Despite this, she managed to prevail and reach her first final since she was runner-up to Serena Williams at Wimbledon in July.

“I felt it at 4 something in the second set. Then in the tiebreak I felt something stronger. So I said, No, no, I cannot wait to get worse. So I just called the trainer,” she explained. “At that moment I said, Okay, Garbine, play. Be aggressive and see what happens. You know, I was very, like, kind of brave. I was like, Okay, come on, let’s do it. Let’s see these couple of points and see if you can close the match. I had a lot of chances to close the match before. I’m like, no way I’m going to lose this set. I did it and it was good.”

Williams and Muguruza have played twice before, in Florianopolis in 2013 and in Auckland in 2014, both on hard courts. “I think it’s a good final,” said Muguruza. “I face her sister in the last final, so is it good to have her again. Williams sisters everywhere,” she said, smiling. “It’s good. She’s playing good also. She had a very tough match also today. So I think it’s a good final.”

RESULTS

SINGLES SEMI-FINALS

V. Williams (USA) d [15] R. Vinci (ITA) 57 62 76(4)

[5] G. Muguruza (ESP) d [6] A Kerber (GER) 64 76(5)

DOUBLES SEMI-FINALS

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM) / Monica Niculescu (ROM) d [6] Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) / Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 64 16 10-8 (MTB)

[1] M. Hingis (SUI) / S. Mirza (IND) d [4] H. Chan (TPE) / Y. Chan (TPE) 62 61

ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY OCTOBER 03, 2015

Not before 12.30pm

DOUBLES FINAL

[1] M. Hingis (SUI) / S. Mirza (IND) vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM) / Monica Niculescu (ROM)

Not Before 3:00 pm

SINGLES FINAL – V. Williams (USA) vs [5] G. Muguruza (ESP)

The official websites for ticket sales are www.wuhanpen.org / www.4008702014.com or call +86 400 870 2014

About the 2015 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open:

Optics Valley International Tennis Centre, Wuhan, China

Prize Money: US$ 2,513,000

Topics: Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza, Ladies tennis, Roberta Vinci, Sports, Tennis, Venus Williams, Wta, Wuhan Open final

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10sBalls_com says:

October 2, 2015 at 11:30 am

-@Venuseswilliams TO PLAY @GarbiMuguruza IN #WuhanOpen SINGLES FINAL, DUBS FINALS WILL BE HINGIS / MIRZA VERSUS…- http://t.co/glxSlxOAdF