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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