After a surprise victory of qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova at the Sydney International, another qualifier pulled another unlikely victory at the Hobart International 2014.
Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain won her first career WTA title at the Hobart International after the qualifier stormed through the draw without losing a set and scalping 7th-seed Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-0 to secure the victory. This is just Muguruza’s second tournament since a comeback from a lenghty injury break last season.
“I didn’t expect to win a lot of matches in the second tournament of the year, but I knew that I’d just worked so hard before,” Muguruza said. “When I was at home I was thinking to myself, ‘If I go to the tournament I’m going to fight so much,’ and that’s what I did. I was like a big bull out there.”
The Spaniard had a promising start in 2013 after reaching back to back fourth round appearances at Premier-level tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. She reached her first WTA semifinal at ‘s-Hertogenbosch but her journey was cut short after she underwent ankle surgery back in July 2, 2013 which forced her to miss the rest of the season.
Her comeback in last week’s ASB Classic in Auckland showed promise as she made it the quarterfinals below losing to eventual finalist Venus Williams.
As for Zakopalova, all is not lost though as the Czech player returned to the court later in the day for the doubles final where she won with partner Monica Niculescu.
