ITF

4 ITFWORLD WINTER 2017 OF 17 It was a year of contrasts in tennis, with the nostalgic feel to the men's game offset by change at the top of the women's game. As usual, the ITF Junior Circuit introduced new faces, and there was movement among the leading contenders on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour too. We showcase the very best in a crowded field – the 2017 ITF World Champions. Muguruza transitioned successfully to grass with a semifinal showing in Birmingham, but it was at Wimbledon where she returned to her big-hitting best. She dropped just one set — in her defeat of reigning champion Angelique Kerber in the round of 16 — en route to her second Wimbledon final. Once there, she produced a nerveless display to defeat Venus Williams 75 60 and lift the trophy denied to her by sister Serena two years previously. Muguruza became just the second Spanish woman to win Wimbledon, after Conchita Martinez — her coach for the fortnight — in 1994. Muguruza jumped from No. 15 to No. 5 in the rankings, and was given a further boost by reaching the semifinals in Stanford and storming to the title in Cincinnati two weeks later, defeating Simona Halep in the final. Venezuela-born Muguruza was one of the favourites going into the US Open, but fell in the round of 16 to Petra Kvitova. Her summer efforts were enough though to see her ascend to the No. 1 ranking for the first time after the event, finishing at the head of a field of eight women who could potentially have held the top spot. Taking over from Karolina Pliskova, Muguruza became the second Spanish player to reach the No. 1 ranking after Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1995. Muguruza had her fifth semifinal finish of the year in Tokyo. She conceded the No. 1 ranking to Halep in October but remained at No. 2 through the remainder of 2017, finishing the season just 40 points behind the Romanian. The last time the men's and women's singles World Champions were from the same country was in 1998, when Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras completed the double for USA for the sixth time. Germany is the only other country to achieve the feat, Steffi Graf and Boris Becker doing so in 1989. ITF WORLD CHAMPIONS ' THE CREAM G ARBINE MUGURUZA is ITF World Champion for the first time, the 24-year-old receiving the honour in the women's singles category after adding a second Grand Slam title to her resume. Named alongside countryman Rafael Nadal, this is the first time in 19 years that the ITF World Champions in men's and women's singles have been from the same country, and marks a new achievement for Spain. After her breakthrough run to her first major trophy at 2016 Roland Garros, Muguruza began 2017 as a semifinalist in Brisbane and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She was also a hard court quarterfinalist in Indian Wells, and reached the last four on clay in Rome. In defence of her French Open title, Muguruza reached the round of 16 before being upset by Kristina Mladenovic. Still searching for her first final appearance since that triumph in Paris,

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