Swiatek Sees Off Sabalenka At WTA Finals, Will Meet Pegula For Title And Year-End No. 1
With the weather cleared up, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka completed their delayed semifinal Sunday at the WTA Finals in Cancun.
Swiatek was serving 1-2 in the first when play was stopped last night. Today, it was all Swiatek as the former No. 1 held and then broke and ran away with the win 6-3, 6-2. Swiatek won 11 of the 13 games played today.
The win not only puts Swiatek in the Monday final against Jessica Pegula, it gets her a win from the year-end No. 1 ranking.
If Swiatek beats Pegula, she finishes No. 1 for a second straight year.
“I feel like it’s still a long way away because I feel like tomorrow’s match will be the toughest one,” Swiatek said. “We can talk about it tomorrow after the match. I’m just going to continue doing what I’ve been doing in days,” Swiatek told the WTA.
“I can’t truly tell you the keys for tomorrow. I’m going to work on that tonight.”
Pegula lost in her round-robin doubles today avoiding the possibility of playing three matches today, so both players should be fresh. Pegula has lost 22 total games in singles, Swiatek just 19.
Both players are perfect on the week in singles at 4-0 and 8-0 in sets. Head-to-head, Swiatek leads 5-3 but Pegula beat her at the United Cup and again in Montreal.
“Having two wins over her this year is going to give me a lot of confidence,” Pegula said. “But again, I think she’s someone where when she’s hot, she can kind of steamroll everybody, and I feel like that’s what she’s doing right now. She’s also I think, probably the best player in the wind in these conditions, because her footwork is so good. And coming off the Beijing win, I think she has a lot of confidence as well.”
Swiatek will seek her 6th title of the year and 17th of her career. For Pegula, it would be her biggest win and 8th overall. She’s already defeated the No. 4, No. 3 and No. 1 players in the world.
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