Swiatek eases past Sabalenka to earn spot in WTA Finals championship

CANCUN, Mexico -- Iga Swiatek defeated World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday at the GNP Seguro WTA Finals.

If Swiatek wins Monday’s championship match against Jessica Pegula, she’ll regain the top spot she relinquished two months ago and finish as the year-end No.1 for the second straight time. If Pegula prevails, Sabalenka will finish on top for the first time in her career.

It’s only the fifth time this century that the No.1 ranking was in play at the WTA Finals, the last occurring in 2009, when Serena Williams caught Dinara Safina at the finish line.

With the No.1 ranking on the line, is it something Swiatek is thinking about heading into the match with Pegula? 

“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 [recent] days.

“I can’t truly tell you the keys for tomorrow. I’m going to work on that tonight.”

Swiatek is now 6-3 in career matches against Sabalenka -- and has won all four of her matches in Estadio Paradisus, all against Top 10 players. Going back to her recent title in Beijing, Swiatek has won 10 consecutive matches.

The 22-year-old from Poland has dropped a total of only 19 games in Cancun, the fewest by any player to reach the WTA Finals championship match since Justine Henin in 2007. Swiatek is also the youngest player to reach the WTA Finals championship match since Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka in 2011.

WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Pegula, meanwhile, is also 4-0, winning all her Top 10 matches in straight sets. She’s the first to face the Nos.1, 2, 3 and 4-ranked players in the same tournament since the WTA Tour rankings came into being in 1975 -- and, of course, could be the first to defeat them all.

Swiatek has now won a total of 67 matches this year, equaling her marvelous 2022 campaign.

The match resumed on Sunday, with 18 minutes elapsed and Sabalenka serving to level the first set at 2-all, 30-all. Swiatek needed only two points to break her serve, setting a tone for the rest of the match.

Swiatek served out the set, hitting a sharp backhand down the line that Sabalenka couldn’t quite track down, sending a running forehand long. While the wind wasn’t as substantial as it had been all week long, it was a factor. There were a number of times when Sabalenka was swinging off-balance along the baseline. Swiatek, with flawless footwork, rarely looked out of sync.

The third game of the second set was a test of wills, won by Swiatek. She converted her fourth break point with another error from Sabalenka. Later, in the seventh game, Swiatek broke Sabalenka for the third time in the match before serving out the win.

The final statistics underlined the narrow margins at play in this match. Sabalenka finished with only five winners -- and 18 unforced errors. Swiatek clocked in with nine and nine, typical of her consistent game.