Cincinnati Open: Muguruza thumps Halep; Dimitrov downs Kyrgios

TIL Desk Sports/ Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza fine-tuned her preparations for this month’s US Open by crushing Simona Halep 6-1, 6-0 in the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday. Muguruza’s tennis was as hot as the summer sun in the early afternoon match on the outdoor hardcourt, as she wrapped up victory in less than an hour.

The Wimbledon champion kept her opponent pinned to the baseline and improved her career record to 3-1 against the Romanian second seed. With the loss, Halep once again fell one win short of rising to the top of the world rankings.

Grigor Dimitrov clinched the biggest title of his career and enjoyed a huge confidence boost ahead of the US Open by beating Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5 to win the Cincinnati Open.

With three of the ‘Big Four’ players nursing injuries and Rafael Nadal knocked out in the quarter-finals by Kyrgios, Bulgarian Dimitrov grasped his chance with both hands, winning his first Masters 1000 series event under a broiling hot sun.

A break in each set was enough for the seventh seed to claim his third title of the year and seventh of his career. “I’m just happy. There’s nothing else I can say, honestly,” the 26-year-old told.