RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- On Thursday at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, Barbora Krejcikova and Iga Swiatek will play for the second semifinal spot -- though not against each other.
 

Coco Gauff, after a sparkling victory over Swiatek, has already advanced. Fellow American Jessica Pegula, sidelined by a left knee injury, was forced to withdraw Wednesday night, bringing in Daria Kasatkina as a late alternate.

Before Pegula's withdrawal, Swiatek had just one path to the semifinals. She needed to win while Gauff beats Krejcikova.

However, with Pegula's withdrawal, Swiatek's match against Kasatkina is essentially inconsequential for qualification purposes.

The semifinal scenario is this: If Gauff wins, she and Swiatek advance to the semifinals; if Krejcikova defeats Gauff, Krejcikova and Gauff move forward.

[Note: This post has been updated after Jessica Pegula's withdrawal.]

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It’s been a turbulent few months for Swiatek. After losing to Pegula in the quarterfinals of the US Open, she switched coaches and sat out the Asian swing. Here in Riyadh, she came back from a set and two breaks down before beating Krejcikova. Her straight-sets loss to Gauff confirmed that, at least mentally, she wasn’t in match shape. Her frustration was evident from the start.

“I had to have my head kind of on a leash and control it all the time,” Swiatek told reporters. “So I didn’t have that, tight moments, in two months. So I kind of forgot how it is and how much of energy it takes.

“It’s a reminder that nothing comes for free. You always seem to work 100 percent because in tennis the momentum can change pretty quickly. You need to be consistent throughout the whole match, basically to win.”

Day 6 schedule

1 p.m. local time

(2) G. Dabrowski (CAN) / E. Routliffe (NZL) vs (5) C. Dolehide (USA) / D. Krawczyk (USA)

Not before 3:30 p.m.

(2) I. Swiatek (POL) vs (6) D. Kasatkina

Not before 6 p.m.

(3) C. Gauff (USA) vs (8) B. Krejcikova (CZE)

Followed by

(4) S. Errani (ITA) / J. Paolini (ITA) vs (7) H.-C. Chan (TPE) / V. Kudermetova

Match breakdown

No.2 Iga Swiatek (1-1) vs. [ALT] D. Kasatkina 

Head-to-head: 5-1, Swiatek

Last match: Swiatek defeated Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3 in 2022 WTA Finals in Fort Worth

Swiatek was set to face Pegula before the five-time major champion withdrew, setting up a potentially tougher test against a fresher Kasatkina, currently ranked No.9 in the world.

Kasatkina won their first-career meeting, at Eastbourne in 2021, but Swiatek has won their past five encounters, four of which were on hard courts -- including a decisive win in Fort Worth two years ago.

Kasatkina holds a 40-22 record for the season, with her latest match ending in a quarterfinal loss to Sofia Kenin in Tokyo. However, she’s had a solid fall stretch, highlighted by three-set victory in the Ningbo final -- her second title of the year.

On the other side, Swiatek has lost four consecutive matches against Top 10 players this year -- Zheng Qinwen (Paris Olympics), Aryna Sabalenka (Cincinnati), Pegula (US Open) and Gauff (WTA Finals) -- the longest such streak of her career.

No.3 Coco Gauff (2-0) vs. No.8 Barbora Krejcikova (1-1)

Head-to-head: 1-0, Krejcikova. Their only previous match was a barnburner at the 2021 French Open.

Krejcikova saved five set points in the first set and beat a17-year-old Gauff 7-6 (6), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals. In only her fifth appearance in a major singles draw, Krejcikova collected her first Grand Slam singles title, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a three-set final.

That Krejcikova is even in this position defies imagination.

No player this century has advanced to the WTA Finals with fewer than 30 match-wins. Krejcikova, plagued by injuries, has played only 31 matches this year.

What would it mean to reach the final four of the year-end tournament after such a difficult season?

“It would definitely be amazing to get through and to keep playing more matches,” Krejcikova said. “So I will do everything in the match to get there.”

She did everything against Pegula, stroking 11 aces and breaking her four times.

Gauff had lost 11 of 12 matches to Swiatek before breaking through with a 6-3, 6-4 win. Perhaps coincidentally (perhaps not), Gauff has now won 11 of her past 12 matches.

She’s been working on her serve, and against Swiatek it was fierce. 

“I’m in the process of changing things, so it’s up and down, and I feel like it’s in the right direction,” Gauff said. “The first set, no break points, which I don’t even know if that’s ever happened [for Gauff] against her.

“First WTA Finals [Fort Worth, 2022] I was 0-3, and now being 2-0, it’s pretty cool. Hopefully I can win three more matches and wrap up the season.”