2024 WTA Finals Day 5: Gauff Stuns Swiatek, Sabalenka Clinches No. 1
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The first big shockwave hit the WTA Finals on Tuesday as Coco Gauff stunned 2-time defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-4 to clinch a spot in the semifinals.
Gauff had lost 11 of her last 12 to Swiatek coming in, but today her consistency forced Swiatek into error after error.
“Obviously playing Iga is tough for me, but I’m really happy how I managed to play throughout the match,” Gauff said to the WTA. “And, yeah, it was a fun crowd environment. It was pretty exciting. So I’m glad to get through today”.
Swiatek led with a break twice in the second and got 33 winners from Gauff including 11 doubles, but came up well short giving the American 47 unforced errors.
“For sure I wasn’t solid enough, and Coco used her opportunities much better than I did,” said Swiatek who hasn’t won a title since the French. “Had some break points that I didn’t win. And for sure, I made more unforced errors. And when you play Coco, you know you need to be solid. Even though our head to head was more positive for me, it’s still never easy to win against her.
“So today, for sure, she was a better player and I’m gonna try to adjust a bit better in my next match, and try to do some stuff tomorrow, practice more to play better.”
Gauff has now won 11 of her last 12 matches, and won a set in all 12. She’s into her second WTA Finals semifinal.
On Thursday, she’ll face Barbora Krejcikova who ousted Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-3.
Pegula is eliminated but Swiatek might have to beat the American to return to the semifinals.
With Swiatek losing, Aryna Sabalenka has clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career.
WEDNESDAY WTA FINALS RIYADH SCHEDULE
Start 1:00pm
[1] Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) / Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs [6] Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) / Ellen Perez (AUS)
Not Before 3:30pm
[4] Jasmine Paolini (ITA) vs [7] Zheng Qinwen (CHN)
Not Before 6:00pm
[1] Aryna Sabalenka vs [5] Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
[3] Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) / Elise Mertens (BEL) vs [8] Katerina Siniakova (CZE) / Taylor Townsend (USA)
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