Swiatek ends Gauff's 16-match winning streak to reach China Open Final

World number two Iga Swiatek ended American Coco Gauff's 16-match winning streak with a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory on Saturday to advance to the China Open final, where she will face Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

Gauff had defeated Swiatek in their previous meeting, the semi-finals at Cincinnati, snapping a seven-match losing streak against the Pole before going on to win her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open and arrive in Beijing in blistering form.

Swiatek, who had lost her top ranking to Aryna Sabalenka after losing to Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round of the season's final Grand Slam last month, regained control of her rivalry with Gauff to reach a seventh final this year.

"I'm really happy with my performance," Swiatek said. "It feels like I can play freely again. It's been a while since I felt that way.

The 22-year-old faced no break points in the opening set, which she breezed through in 40 minutes thanks to a usual powerful performance from the back of the court.

Swiatek pressed Gauff early in the second set, going up 2-0 with an early break before her American opponent held serve and had a medical timeout to address a nagging shoulder ailment. The four-time major champion barely eased up after the break and cruised to victory to keep her on track for her first WTA 1000 title of the season and a tour-leading fifth trophy this year.

Swiatek will face Samsonova, who defeated former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 7-6(7) 6-3 to extend her head-to-head record against the Moscow-born Kazakh world number five to 4-0.

Samsonova hit 33 winners while Rybakina only hit seven in the one-hour, forty-minute match. Samsonova was broken at love after getting the first break of the match to serve for the first set at 5-4. Samsonova ultimately closed the set on her third set point after saving a set point on her serve to force the tiebreak.

Throughout this clash between two of the top servers on tour, break point opportunities were few. However, Samsonova was the first to break in the second set, capturing the game 5-4. Samsonova, who had learnt from her mistake in the first set, coolly served out the victory at love for her third Top 5 triumph of the season.

SportsLigue