MASON (Ohio): Garbine Muguruza cradled her smiling face in both hands and closed her eyes, taking it all in. The Wimbledon champion had added another title to her breakthrough summer this one at the expense of a player who can’t quite get to No. 1.

Muguruza defeated Sim­ona Halep 6-1, 6-0 for her first Western and Southern Open title here on Sunday, needing only 56 minutes to extend her run of success. She also denied Halep yet another chance to move up to No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

“Honestly, I was thinking in her situation, it must be difficult,” Muguruza said. “But I wanted to win the title as well.”

On the men’s side, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5 for his first ATP Masters title, emerging from a bracket decimated by injuries to top players.

Muguruza won her first title in the US and her second of the year, along with Wimbledon. In three tournaments since, the Spaniard has at least reached the quarter-finals. Now it’s on to New York for the US Open, where she’s got a history of disappointment.

“The tough matches never go my way, so I want to change that,” she said. “I want to find the recipe this year.”

It was a big disappointment for Halep the third time this season that she needed one more win to move up to No. 1 and couldn’t get it.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2017