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CINCINNATI. — Wimbledon tennis champion Garbine Muguruza humbled second-ranked Simona Halep 6-1, 6-0 in Sunday’s final of the WTA Cincinnati Open, denying the Romanian the world number one spot in the process. Sixth-seeded Spaniard Muguruza needed only 56 minutes to capture her second title of the year and her first in a US event, taking the $522 450 top prize in the last major US Open tune-up.

“The American swing was never going my way,” Muguruza said. “Finally, this year, I improved that.”

It marked the third loss of the year for Halep when she was playing for the top ranking, also falling in the French Open final against Jelena Ostapenko and the Wimbledon quarterfinal against Johanna Konta, each time after taking the first set.

“Maybe I feel the pressure and I don’t realise it,” Halep said.

“Maybe I just played bad.”

Halep’s coach, Darren Cahill, told ESPN the French Open loss still haunts her, saying: “There’s still a little leftover residue from Paris. It takes some time to get over that.”

Halep apologised to spectators after the embarrassing defeat, thanking them for support “even if I played so bad and Muguruza played so well.”

“It was a big shame to lose 6-1, 6-0 in the final,” Halep said. “I got dominated. I can’t control anymore the points. That’s why I got down in my confidence.”

Muguruza admitted after the lopsided win: “I feel a little bit bad. But I want to be in her position. I wanted to win. What can I do?”

Czech Karolina Pliskova, a semi-final loser to Muguruza, will remain world number one by a five-point margin over Halep.

“It’s still there. I still have a chance,” Halep said. “Maybe one day I will be there.” — AFP.