Garbine Muguruza won her first match at the WTA Finals

SINGAPORE (AP) - Garbine Muguruza won her first match at the WTA Finals, and Angelique Kerber won her second.

Muguruza, the second-seeded Spaniard who was making her introduction at the season-finishing competition, beat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (4) Monday. Kerber, seeded 6th, vanquished Petra Kvitova 6-2, 7-6 (3).

The 22-year-old Muguruza is the first Spaniard to play in the WTA Finals since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 2001.

''To go here, and play and win interestingly, it's extraordinary,'' Muguruza said. ''So I feel now more quiet, more in the competition.''

Muguruza contacted her first Grand Slam last this year at Wimbledon, losing to Serena Williams in straight sets. She was the first Spanish lady to achieve a Grand Slam last following Conchita Martinez lost the French Open last in 2000, and the first to do as such at Wimbledon since Sanchez-Vicario in 1995 and 1996.

                                                               year-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.

 Kerber is playing at the WTA Finals for the third time, and her triumph over the fourth-seeded Kvitova was her seventh match at the competition. She has never progressed from the round-robin phase of the opposition.

''I'm here to go out and play each and every match I can play and put forth a valiant effort,'' Kerber said. ''I'm beginning great at this time, yet regardless I have a few matches to go.''