WTA Finals draw: Swiatek, Gauff land in same group
CANCUN, Mexico -- The draw is out for the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun, the Hologic WTA Tour's season-ending championships.
The top two seeds, Aryna Sabalenka
Here's how the rest of the groups shook out:
Bacalar Group
1. Aryna Sabalenka
4. Elena Rybakina
5. Jessica Pegula
8. Maria Sakkari
Chetumal Group
2. Iga Swiatek
3. Coco Gauff
6. Ons Jabeur
7. Marketa Vondrousova
🫳🫳🫳🫳🫳
— WTA Finals (@WTAFinals) October 28, 2023
🫳🫳🫳🫳🫳
🫳🫳🏆🫳🫳
🫳🫳🫳🫳🫳
🫳🫳🫳🫳🫳
It's up for grabs.#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/Q7sXBekhPf
The Bacalar Group will see a rematch of two of the season's pivotal finals, with Sabalenka and Rybakina drawn together. The two have played three times this season, with Sabalenka winning the Australian Open final, Rybakina taking the Indian Wells final and Beijing quarterfinals. Familiar foes Pegula and Sakkari, who have faced each other nine times, will also lock horns.
"Obviously with Aryna and Elena, it's girls with power games and big servers, so it's gonna be tricky," Pegula said. "But I'm happy with my group. Aside from Maria, I actually haven't played Aryna or Elena that much, so it's going to be interesting."
The Chetumal Group features three of the season's major champions, with French Open champion Swiatek, US Open champion Gauff and Wimbledon champion Vondrousova. Swiatek and Gauff will face off for the 10th time in their careers. The group will also see a rematch of the Wimbledon final, with Jabeur set to play Vondrousova.
"You're not going to get any easy matches in WTA Finals," Swiatek said. "Obviously I faced Coco and Marketa in Beijing and US Open, so the only player I didn't play recently is Ons. I just have to focus on myself and get used to the conditions here and everything should be fine."
The top two finishers from each group advance to the semifinals. The top finisher from each group will face the No.2 finisher from the other. The semifinals and final are played in a standard knockout format.
Main character energy 🔥
— wta (@WTA) October 28, 2023
Your top eight doubles pairs in 2023!#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/GSdD9r6RM2
In doubles, top seeds Coco Gauff
Mahahual Group
1. Coco Gauff
4. Barbora Krejcikova
6. Vera Zvonareva & Laura Siegemund
7. Gabriela Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe
Maya Ka’an Group
2. Storm Hunter & Elise Mertens
3. Shuko Aoyama & Ena Shibahara
5. Demi Schuurs & Desirae Krawczyk
8. Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Ellen Perez
La foto de la selfie de las 8 mejores parejas de la temporada. 🤳🎾#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/GIILQ8lKi8
— GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun (@WTAGuadalajara) October 27, 2023
The Bacalar group kicks off round-robin play on Sunday, Oct. 29.
Sunday:
Start 2:30 p.m.
[3] Shuko Aoyama & Ena Shibahara
Not Before 5:00 p.m.
[4] Elena Rybakina
Not Before 6:00 p.m.
[1] Aryna Sabalenka
[1] Coco Gauff
Monday:
Start 2:30 p.m.
[2] Storm Hunter & Elise Mertens
Not Before 5:00 p.m.
[2] Iga Swiatek
Not Before 6:00 p.m.
[3] Coco Gauff
[5] Desirae Krawczyk & Demi Schuurs vs. [8] Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Ellen Perez
