Garbine Muguruza rated the WTA Finals extremely highly as a player and now her goal is to do everything she can to make the season-ending tournament in Saudi Arabia a successful project.
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In early April, the WTA confirmed what many thought was just a matter of time - Riyadh was named as the host city for the WTA Finals for the next three years.
Around two weeks later, Muguruza announced that she was retiring from pro tennis after not playing any matches since 2023 January. Two months later, the former three-time Grand Slam champion was picked to be the boss for the inaugural edition of the season-ending event in Saudi Arabia.
In mid-October, Riyadh hosted some of the biggest names of the game after Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune came for the Six Kings Slam. During a four-day exhibition, the stadium was packed and everything went extremely well.
Now, Riyadh is set to host the WTA Finals between November 02-09 with the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova participating.
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When it was confirmed that the Saudis were given the green light to host one of the biggest tournaments in the world, the WTA faced certain criticism and backlash. But the organization has defended their decision by claiming that they have been given guarantees and star players are also willing to give a chance to Saudi Arabia.
And since Muguruza is the tournament director in Riyadh, she will also have lots of responsibility on her back but she is also looking forward to the challenge.
"It shows theres a lot of interest in tennis in the Kingdom. It was an exhibition, but ours is an official tournament. Im really looking forward to it. We want to make it great so when they come back next year, theyll be really excited," the former world No. 1 told the WTA website.
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Muguruza recalls her 2021 WTA Finals win
After making three consecutive appearances at the season-ending tournament between 2015 and 2017, the Spaniard didn't qualify again for the event until 2021. That year, it was during the US Open when she secured a ticket for the WTA Finals and got informed that it may take place in Cancun.
He said, Theres a big chance that its going to go to Mexico.' And when I heard that I was like, What? Youre telling me that its going to be Latin America? This is my place. This is my finals. I loved playing in Latin America, and somehow I connected with the crowd. Everything just came along," Muguruza recalled.
In Cancun, the former world No. 1 started with a loss to Karolina Pliskova but then won her next two group matches before also beating Paula Badosa in the semifinal and Anett Kontaveit in the final, respectively. Throughout the week, the Spaniard enjoyed major support from the Mexican crowd and felt like at home.
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Its already hard just qualifying for the tournament, insane, really. The only thought is, I need to qualify, I need to qualify. And then youre there playing. Its the climax of one of my best seasons, winning many tournaments, qualifying and winning in Mexico. It was an amazing, amazing finish," Muguruza said.
It turned out to be the last title of the 31-year-old's career.
What Muguruza said just before getting her new job?
A month after retiring, the 2017 Wimbledon champion said it wasn't easy for her to end her career because she felt she needed something new.
Well, it was quite easy for me. I know for some athletes it takes a long time to decide, but for me, it was kind of natural. I just felt the need to move on in life, and the lack of excitement, I guess. With the years that changes I want to look for other chapters in my life," the former Spanish star said on Tennis Channel in May.
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In the same interview, Muguruza mentioned her WTA Finals victory as one of the most special moments of her career and also revealed that she would like to get a tennis gig.
Winning trophies, Grand Slams, are the most amazing, everything. Also the Masters in Mexico, that was huge, playing in front of the Latin crowd, the whole stadium was crazy like poor [Anett] Kontaveit, it was so tough. Those three are the best ones, yeah," Muguruza shared at the time.
What I miss the most, I have to say, is having my team, having my group and that feeling of protection, and travelling with them. That I miss the most. Its a tough sport, its very solitary and you travel every week so Im not missing that. Im trying to figure it out. I definitely want to be involved with the media, with tennis, but also try different things. Ive always been around tennis, so Im open for opportunities.
