Muguruza says she’s not the favorite at WTA Finals

Spanish tennis star Garbiñe Muguruza said Saturday that despite being the focus of attention at the WTA Finals in Singapore she did not believe she was the favorite to win the title.

“I don’t think I’m the favorite, but I’m going to go out and give it my all to win here,” the world No. 4, who is making her first appearance at this eightplayer, seasonending event, said at a press conference a day before the singles matches kick off.

The Spaniard has been drawn in the White group along with Czech Petra Kvitova, Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Czech Lucie Safarova, her first roundrobin opponent on Monday.

The Red group, meanwhile, is made up of Russia’s Maria Sharapova, Romania’s Simona Halep, Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska and Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, who announced after winning last month’s U.S. Open that she would retire at the end of the season.

American world No. 1 Serena Williams, who won the other three majors of the season and came within two matches of pulling off a rare calendaryear Grand Slam, announced early this month that she would not play the WTA Finals because she needed to give her body a chance to recover from the grueling season.

Sharapova will take on Radwanska and Halep will square off against Pennetta in the tournament’s first roundrobin matches on Sunday.

“It’s going to be interesting ... Every match is really tough in this tournament because it’s like you’re playing a final every day,” Muguruza said.

The 22yearold Spaniard began the season ranked No. 20 but has surged into the top 5 on the strength of her runnerup finish at Wimbledon and strong recent play in the WTA Tour’s Asian swing.

During the press conference, Muguruza also said she would continue working with French coach Sam Sumyk in the 2016 season, adding that everything is “perfect” at the moment.

The Spaniard is also in the doubles tournament, which kicks off Sunday with a match pitting Muguruza and fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro against the team of Bethanie MattekSands and Safarova.