Coco Gauff to face fellow American Jessica Pegula in WTA Finals semi-finals in Mexico while Poland's Iga Swiatek takes on Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka; Swiatek: "I know these games aren't the most beautiful, but we're really trying our best to give you guys the best show possible"
Saturday 4 November 2023 07:33, UK
World No 2 Iga Swiatek and world No 3 Coco Gauff have secured their spots in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.
Poland's Swiatek confirmed her position with a 6-1 6-2 win over world No 6 Ons Jabeur.
"I wanted to thank all the fans for coming. The conditions are so tough that without you, I don't know if we'd find the motivation to play," Swiatek said after the match.
"I know these games aren't the most beautiful, but we're really trying our best to give you guys the best show possible. Thank you for coming and please come tomorrow and for the final as well."
Earlier, Gauff claimed a victory over Marketa Vondrousova in a battle of two of the major champions from this year.
She won 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-3 in the final round of group play on Friday night, ending the Czech player's chances of advancing to the semi-finals.
The win was another feather in the cap for Gauff, making her the first teenager to make the final four of the year-end championships since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
She will now face Jessica Pegula while Swiatek takes on Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff won just 1 of 11 second-serve points and just 39 per cent of her service points overall in the first set against Vondrousova before her game picked up.
Gauff wound up with the win despite committing 38 unforced errors to Vondrousova's 25, a differential that wasn't offset by Gauff's 31-25 edge in winners.
"I felt like I needed to hit through the court," Gauff said. "She's a very tricky player. When you play her pace and let her move you side to side, it's tough. And I played her, it's my third time, so I know that.
"But obviously, in the wind, it's tough to be as aggressive as you want, because the bounces are weird and the ball was moving. So I'm glad I made that adjustment and didn't get too frustrated when I missed. You pay the price for hopefully a good reward."
A rain-delayed victory moved Sabalenka to the verge of wrapping up the WTA Tour's season-ending No 1 ranking.
Sabalenka, the top seed, completed a 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over fourth-seeded Rybakina of Kazakhstan on Friday to clinch a semifinal spot.
Should Sabalenka beat second-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland on Saturday, the Belarusian would be assured of ending the year atop the ratings.
Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion, wound up with a 2-1 record in the Bacalar Group, coming in second behind fifth-seeded seeded Jessica Pegula (3-0).
Rybakina lost two of her three matches, finishing third in the Chetumal Group at 1-2. Eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece wound up 0-3.
Sabalenka led Rybakina 6-2, 3-5 when play was suspended on Thursday. Rybakina closed out the second set, but Sabalenka broke serve to open the third set and wasn't challenged after that.
"Was really tough battle in really tough conditions," Sabalenka said. "I'm super happy that I was able to get this win no matter what."
Pegula holds a 2-1 head-to-head edge against Gauff, with the pair having split two matches this year. Swiatek and Sabalenka also have split two matches in 2023, leaving Swiatek with a career 5-3 advantage.
