The WTA Finals in Cancun Between the storms and the wind, they were able to salvage four of the five games scheduled this Friday. With multiple stoppages due to rain and hurricane-force winds making the game difficult, the semi-finals They are being served.
Iga Swiatek managed to close the individual group stage with a resounding victory by 6-1 and 6-2 against Ons Jabeur in just over an hour of play to seal their first place in group B. Meanwhile, the Tunisian were left out of the semifinals after an earlier win by Coco Gauffwith rain as another great adversary, for 5-7, 7-6(4) and 6-3 against Marketa Vondrousova in a match of the highest tension. The American will face his partner in doubles Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals.
They jumped on the court after that match, early in the morning in Spain, Jabeur and one Swiatek that roadmap is very clear. After the early afternoon closing of Aryna Sabalenka In the semi-finals, the Poles needed to win to maintain the fight for number 1 against the Belarusians who had an absolute victory in the group stage. Said and done: dominant, easy to switch the game from the back of the court and adapts better than Jabeur to the playing conditions, Swiatek sealed a comfortable victory allowing him to access one of the most important duels of the season for him with maximum confidence.
There will be Sabalenka-Swiatek in the semifinals of the ‘masters tournament’, a match where more is at stake than a place in the finals of the WTA Finals: the number 1 in the world was also put into battle. Aryna will tie him if she qualifies for the finalbut if he is defeated it is in the hands of an Iga who needs to win the title to regain the sceptre and finish for the second season in a row as world number 1.
Swiatek He came to the meeting in a sweet moment of form. The American tour and the Tokyo tournament are behind him now, where he has suffered more losses than he usually does when he is playing at his highest level. However, the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing held a few days ago allowed her to regain her confidence on serve and, with it, she is ready to dominate from the back of the court with her usual pattern. Loose with his forehand and backhand, the match against Jabeur was no exception against Swiatek who came to an important event: racking up nine consecutive victories.
He worked hard to get to the semifinals Sabalenka, lost her second group stage match to Jessica Pegula and was pushed to the limit in the third by Elena Rybakina. In the end, however, he achieved karat victory 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3 for gallons displayed. He knows how to conduct a match where he was not comfortable on the second serve, an Achilles heel in the past that he more than corrected in 2023 but where he suffered greatly in Cancun, where he accumulated many doubles. mistakes.
however, both Sabalenka and Swiatek will start from scratch in the semifinals, the first trying to take advantage of that important victory against Rybakina as an incentive to regain her best tennis and the second with the aim of maintaining her level. It will be a new clash of playing styles, with Sabalenka’s power facing Iga’s directions.
They are the two best players of the year, but They haven’t met since last May. Sabalenka then won 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3 in the final of the WTA 1000 in Madrid, which turned out to be one of the best matches of 2023. So she avenged the 6-3 and 6-4 that Iga achieved . a few days before the WTA 500 final in Stuttgart. The two rivalries were on clay, but now there is another one on a hard court to change the situation. 5-3 head-to-head for Swiatek, who is 2-2 on hard court.
surprisingly, Sabalenka won both duels between the two at the WTA Finals. First, in the 2021 group stage (2-6, 6-2 and 7-5); then, in last year’s semifinals (6-2, 2-6 and 6-2). Now, another pass to the final is at stake with a juicier addition: number 1 in the world in 2023 It could be decided this Saturday or it could be left open for Sunday’s game in a match somewhere There is more at stake than a pass to the finals of the WTA Finals.
Source: La Verdad
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