Two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza bolstered her chances of qualifying for next month's WTA Finals with a comeback victory over Ons Jabeur to claim the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic title.
The former world No 1 was down a set and a break but fought back strongly to beat Jabeur 3-6 6-3 6-0 to claim her second title of the year and ninth overall.
The victory helped Muguruza climb two spots to No 6 on the Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard and three places on the women's rankings.
"Making finals is so hard," the 27-year-old said. "I've been around for quite some time now and I know that winning titles is something very difficult.
"To have the opportunity to win four and I won two, is already a great sign because that's something that you can touch."
Full speed ahead 💨
— wta (@WTA) October 3, 2021
🇪🇸 @GarbiMuguruza dominates the decider and takes the title at the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Lxd4s2EIHe
Muguruza is aiming to qualify for her first WTA Finals since 2017, having played the event three times from 2015 when it was held in Singapore.
Defending champion and top-ranked Ash Barty, world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka and French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova have all qualified for next month's tournament.
The finals, contested by the world's top eight singles players and eight doubles teams, was moved out of China's Shenzhen after last year's event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
"I know it's going to be very nice over there because Latin people are fire," said Muguruza, who was born in Venezuela. "I think the girls are going to enjoy it."
Jabeur, who is looking to become the first Arab woman to qualify for the WTA Finals, sits ninth on the leaderboard.
