TIL Desk Sports/ World number one Garbine Muguruza put on a clinical display to power past Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-4 in the Pan Pacific Open quarter-finals in Tokyo on Friday. The 23-year-old Wimbledon champion, who climbed to the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, hardly broke sweat against the Frenchwoman, ranked 20th in the world, on her way to victory in an hour and 20 minutes.
“To achieve this dream I’ve had since I was a child gives me a lot of confidence first,” Muguruza said in a courtside interview. “A boost of motivation to hold this position – because I think it’s the best.”
Muguruza took a 2-1 lead in the first set after an early break and continued to dominate until midway through the second, nullifying Garcia’s serve twice more as she looked to close out the contest quickly.
Garcia, however, staged a mini-revival when she converted her only break-point opportunity in the sixth game of the second but the Spaniard regained control of the contest with another break in the very next game.
The 2016 French Open winner will face defending champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who went through to the semi-finals after Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova was forced to retire with a right thigh injury while trailing 3-6, 7-6(5), 3-1.
