Garbine Muguruza d. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 5-7 7-5

Despite distressing events back home, Garbine Muguruza kept a laser-like focus on her game Friday. She opened the day session of the Western & Southern Open on Center Court. With a small rankings advantage, No. 6-Muguruza needed her “A” game against No. 8-Svetlana Kuznetsova. Looking at the head-to-head, the Spaniard (via Venezuela) was favored 4-1.

Muguruza knew it was not that simple. She had this to say after the match, “Well, I think it was probably one of the best matches of the year, you know, because I felt like we both played very well. Especially in that third set, you know, we were winning points and our serve was there.”

Inline with the 2017 Wimbledon Champion Garbine, Kuznetsova is also a two-time Grand Slam Champion (Roland Garros-2007, US Open 2004), has finished as a finalist 23 times and she also owns 16-doubles titles. She has finished year-end as No. 2 in singles and year-end No. 3 in doubles. Not many players achieve success in both disciplines except perhaps her former doubles partner Martina Navratilova who is still playing legends doubles.

1st Set

Muguruza began and finished strong but faced several challenges by Kuznetsova. Muguruza took the 1st break of serve right away. Attempting to counter, Kuznetsova forced the Spaniard to fight off several break-points in a 20-point service game. In a grand display of mental strength, Muguruza held, 2-0. The next game was a quick break, Muguruza, 3-0. Svetlana kept her mind on the match and achieved her 1st break to 3-1 and followed with a quick hold. She pressed again in game-7 with both going the distance 24-points. Unwilling to yield, Muguruza held again, 4-2 and followed with another break. She quickly held taking the set, 6-2.

2nd Set

Set 2 looked familiar at 1st with the first strike going to Muguruza. A break was followed by a solid hold. But some things were beginning to shift. In game 6th, Kuznetsova, going for her shots, grabbed the 1st two points of Muguruza’s service game eventually breaking to 3-3. Both were playing tactical, aggressive tennis exchanging breaks to 4-4. The final break went Svetlana’s way, 7-5.

3rd Set

The third set remained high-quality and both players were striking deep in the court pushing their opponent back on their heels. Service games were solid with 69% of 1st serve points won for Garbine and 72% for Svetlana.  In the end, Muguruza outperformed Kuznetsova in a few key areas, 2nd serve points won, 2nd return points and of course the big points. After 2-hours and 46 minutes, 75 would reappear on the scoreboard but in favor of Garbine. In a show of home support, Muguruza attached a ribbon to her visor. She commented, “I had it in my mind…I felt to have it today, because, first of all, it’s special to me and after what all happened…Hopefully, it helps.”

In her semi-final match, she faces world No. 1 Karoline Pliskova who won two matches on Friday to clinch the spot. Muguruza will need to sustain her level on this occasion. She has the right attitude as she stated post-win against American Madison Keys, “…fighting and believing that until the last point I have my options. …I’m going sooner or later, have a chance.”

The other women’s singles semi is American stand-out, Sloane Stephens taking on No. 2, Simona Halep.

David Ferrer d. Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-3

At the start of the Western & Southern Open draw there were clear expectations that a Spaniard would prevail, just maybe another one. Well, David Ferrer fulfilled on that promise today, in spectacular fashion.

His straight sets win over a very accomplished Dominic Thiem was thrilling. Ferrer came out of the gates strong backing up a successful week in Canada. After several months of recovery, with an achilles injury sustained in March at Indian Wells, Ferrer appears to be 100%. Maybe even 110%.

Ferrer has been long hailed for his work ethic. I can confirm that he is the only player I have ever seen arrive at the practice courts already in a full on sweat as if he had already run 10 miles. Ferrer appears to have turned back the clock quite possibly playing his best tennis at 35 years old. His serve holds a new intensity.

In the 2nd set, Thiem’s 1st serve took a timeout. That was all Ferrer needed to close. He outplayed his ranking by miles. He was already crushing returns, so 2nd serve looks were icing on the cake. A massively pro-Ferrer crowd on Grandstand expressed heightened appreciation and Ferrer returned that sentiment in kind.

David Ferrer-Presser Highlights

While David expressed that he may not restore his career high ranking of No. 3 (2013), he acknowledged that his Friday night performance is as good as his former “best” and maybe better. The heart of his renewed success was summarized in that it’s 2017 and every match is like a gift, a blessing and he plays each match like it is a final.

Ferrer will play Nick Kyrgios for a chance to reach the Cincinnati final. While Nick played well taking Rafael Nadal out of the draw, David Ferrer has the drive, mentality, and game of a champion.

The other men’s semi-final, Dimitrov versus John Isner will set the stage for Sunday.