Poland’s Iga Swiatek.
| Photo Credit: AFP
World quantity two Iga Swiatek overcame a shaky begin to defeat Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in straight units in her opening WTA Finals match in Cancun.
In Monday’s different conflict, US Open champion Coco Gauff opened her match with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
Polish star Swiatek seemed out of types in an error-strewn first set during which she trailed 2-5 earlier than roaring again to clinch a 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 victory.
The 22-year-old four-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to reclaim her world primary rating from Aryna Sabalenka at this week’s season-ending finals in Mexico.
However that objective seemed unlikely throughout a nervy opening from Swiatek, who was damaged in her first service sport earlier than seventh seed Vondrousova held for a 2-0 lead.
Swiatek managed to claw the break again within the fourth sport to sq. the primary set at 2-2 however then fell to items as Vondrousova broke for a 3-2 lead after which held to go 4-2 up.
Another shaky service sport from Swiatek resulted in a break of serve to go away Vondrousova within the driving seat at 5-2.
But Vondrousova’s sport collapsed thereafter, and Swiatek broke again twice in fast succession to degree the set at 5-5 earlier than holding for 6-5.
Although Vondrousova steadied the ship to carry serve and arrange a tie break, it was solely a brief reprieve.
Swiatek rapidly took management of the breaker and clinched the set when Vondrousova double-faulted.
Vondrousova’s service sport went into meltdown within the second set, with Swiatek breaking her thrice in a row.
Another Vondrousova double-fault left Swiatek 5-0 up, and the Pole sealed victory on her serve within the last sport.
“In the first part of the match I wasn’t feeling like I was playing bad,” Swiatek mentioned.
“I just felt like I was making mistakes on the last shots within the rally. I felt there was room for improvement but I didn’t need to change a lot.
“So I just tried to be more precise, not play risky.”
The 19-year-old Gauff raced via the primary set towards Jabeur to win 6-0 in simply 23 minutes after which shrugged off a prolonged rain delay to take the second set 6-1 for a convincing win.
“Ons is a great player, so I felt really unsteady the whole match even though it didn’t look like that,” Gauff mentioned.
“But I’m just happy to finally get a win here in this event.”
The WTA Finals sees eight gamers divided into two teams of 4 enjoying in a round-robin first section, with the highest two in every group advancing to the semi-finals on Saturday.
