SENSATIONAL FROM SWIATEK 👏 @iga_swiatek defeats World No. 1 Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 for her maiden appearance in a @WTAFinals championship match! #WTAFinals | #GNPSegurosWTAFinalsCancun
MATCH REPORT | 2023 WTA FINALS: Iga SWIATEK cruises past Aryna SABALENKA, on the verge of regaining world No. 1
WTAMonday, 06 November 2023 at 01:21
Iga Swiatek had no trouble against Aryna Sabalenka and defeated her 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the final of the WTA Finals, where she will face Jessica Pegula.
It's not often that the world No. 1 and world No. 2 face each other before the final of a tournament. The round-robin system of the Finals resulted in the Belarusian advancing as the second-placed player from her group, while the Polish player led her group. This was the fourth meeting between the top two players in the semifinals of the Finals.
Swiatek arrived with a perfect campaign after three convincing wins over Marketa Vondrousova (7-6, 6-0), Coco Gauff (6-0, 7-5), and Ons Jabeur (6-1, 6-2). In the other group, Sabalenka defeated Maria Sakkari (6-0, 6-1) and Elena Rybakina (6-2, 3-6, 6-3) but lost to Jessica Pegula (4-6, 3-6), who ended up leading the group.
The match began on Saturday, November 4th, but after three games, it was suspended due to weather conditions with the score at 2-1, 30-30 with Sabalenka serving. Upon returning to the court, the 4-times Grand Slam champion had two strong return points and quickly secured a break that gave her the advantage in the set.
She later extended the lead to 4-1 with her service. Although Sabalenka successfully held her serve, she had no chances against Swiatek, who won her next two service games to love.
Sabalenka and Swiatek had similar first-serve percentages (59% and 66%), winning almost the same percentage of first-serve points (77% and 76%). The significant difference was in the second serve, where the world No. 1 had a 56% second-serve percentage compared to the 73% of the 4-times Grand Slam champion.
The second set saw both players holding their first service games, but then a long game occurred where Swiatek capitalized on her fourth break point to once again take the lead in the score. Once more, the Polish player did not give her opponent any chances on her service, and in the seventh game, she secured the decisive break of the match. With her service, Swiatek confirmed the victory with a final score of 6-3, 6-2, avenging her semifinal loss to Sabalenka from the previous year.
With Sabalenka's elimination, Swiatek has the opportunity to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking if she wins the title in her last match of the year. This is Swiatek's first final at the WTA Finals in three appearances, and she will face Pegula, who is also in the final of the year-end tournament for the first time. Swiatek leads the head-to-head 5-3, but in 2023, it's 1-2 in favor of Pegula.
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