Iga Swiatek takes chunk out of Coco Gauff's Olympic Games lead after WTA Finals

Poland’s tennis star Iga Swiatek has reduced the lead of America’s Coco Gauff in the race for a spot at the Olympics.

The newly-crowned world number one won the WTA Finals event in Cancun, Mexico after defeating America’s Jessica Pegula in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-0, 6-1. With that win, Swiatek has managed to reduce the lead of Gauff to just nearly 500 points.

With that win, the 22-year-old points tally stands at 4,360. On the other hand, the reigning US Open champion’s points tally stands at 4,825. The race for the Olympics began on July 12 earlier this year and will continue for the next 12 months.

The victory was an important one for Swiatek who suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the US Open which led to her losing the top spot in the WTA rankings as well. She lost to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 while defending her title.

That gave a chance to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka to dethrone Swiatek and she did exactly that by qualifying for the final of the mega-event. However, her joy was short-lived as she lost to Gauff in the final of the fourth and final Grand Slam with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.