The Polish Iga Swiateksecond in the world tennis rankings, this Wednesday confirmed his good moment of form by defeating the American 6-0 and 7-5 Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals.
Swiatek, 22, won 75 percent of his first-serve points and capitalized on 11 unforced errors from his opponent to take the first set.
The Pole was patient, strung his points together as if he were weaving them by hand and swept the North American with three consecutive breaks to win by a staggering 6-0 margin.
Gauff, ranked third in the world, began playing note by note, point by point. He held serve in game two of the second set and in the third he got a breath of fresh air, breaking his rival’s serve to take a 2-1 lead.
Swiatek patiently pressed the US Open champion, defending his lead until he suffered a break in the eighth game that led to a 4-4 lead in the second set.
“Iga, Iga,” shouted his followers from the stands, cheering on their country’s player.
Gauff did not fall and in the ninth he recovered the break to take a 5-4 lead. However, he had to confirm. The Pole came back with precision and tied it 5-5.
With everyone ready to cause a tie break, in the twelfth game, Swiatek broke and secured the victory in one hour and twenty-nine minutes.
Swiatek stepped into the semifinal by being the only undefeated team in its group with two wins without a loss, followed by Gauff (1-1).
The WTA Finals will take place in Cancun on a hard court with a prize pool of nine million dollars.
Women, more united
In the subsequent press conference Iga Swiatek said that she and other tennis players are more united than in the past as they seek changes to the WTA Tour, including improvements to prioritize the welfare of athletes. “We are not happy about some things. I feel like it’s about wanting to have more and more, but not really taking care of our well-being and our health,” Swiatek said.
“There are some things that the WTA can change for us without impacting the tournaments and the things that they have already agreed upon in the tournaments,” he concluded.
“I really feel that we, myself and the other players, like Ons (Jabeur), Coco… and also some players who did not qualify for the final, are very, very united and have the same thoughts. Most of us, young and old alike, know that it is not good that we will have more mandatory tournaments. And so we really want to have an impact.”
He was asked about the lack of spectators during his victory over Gauff, and Swiatek made it clear he noticed, blaming the late decision to hold the tour’s season-ending championship in Cancun (the venue wasn’t announced until September). that “marketing should be better.”
Source: La Verdad
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