WTA roundup: Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek to square off in Riyadh
Coco Gauff, ranked third in the world, and Poland's second-ranked Iga Swiatek both won their first matches in the Orange Group at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Gauff defeated sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula with a score of 6-3, 6-2, while Swiatek came back after losing the first set to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 against Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic.
Gauff and Swiatek will compete against each other on Tuesday, with the winner taking the lead in the Orange Group. Swiatek has a strong 11-1 record against Gauff in their previous matches.
Gauff had 16 winners compared to Pegula's 8 and converted five out of eight break points, finishing the match in 75 minutes.
"I thought we both played at a high level," Gauff said. "I was able to break through on the key points."
Swiatek faced challenges in her first match in two months, losing the first set and falling behind 3-0 in the second before turning things around.
"Even though I practiced a lot, I forgot how it feels to deal with the different stress and emotions," Swiatek explained. "I needed time to adjust. The key was that I managed to fight through and be patient."
Swiatek broke Krejcikova early in the third set and quickly took a 5-0 lead to secure her victory.
"I focused on just getting the balls in," Swiatek said about her early strategy. "I aimed to keep it simple and solid."
"I'm glad I won, even though I felt a bit rusty at first."
Krejcikova expressed disappointment about losing the match.
"It wasn't my best tennis, but I was fairly solid," Krejcikova said. "I lost the momentum, and I'm not sure if it was me or Iga. She started playing more aggressively and hitting her targets better."
Viktorija Golubic has finally ended her long wait.
The Swiss player came back from a break down in the second set to secure her first win in eight years and her second overall WTA Tour title by beating second seed Rebecca Sramkova 6-3, 7-5 in Jiujiang, China.
Golubic, 32, previously won in Lausanne in 2016. After reaching two finals and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon five years later, she climbed to 35th in the world but fell to 168th. This victory will bring her closer to the top 100 again.
Sramkova, from Slovakia, led 2-1 in the second set and then battled through a long game with 17 score changes to go up 3-1. However, Golubic broke back to even the score and then broke Sramkova again in the final game to clinch the win.
Top seed Diana Shnaider took just 71 minutes to defeat second-seeded Katie Boulter from Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 and win the title in Hong Kong.
Shnaider, a 20-year-old from Russia, dominated Boulter, who said her busy fall schedule left her feeling drained.
Shnaider broke Boulter's serve four times and did not face a single break point during the match.
In Merida, Mexico, Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez overwhelmed Ann Li from the United States with a score of 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
Sonmez saved three out of four break points in her victory and only trailed twice—at 2-1 in the first set and at 1-0 in the second—before winning six consecutive games.
Before facing Li in the final, Sonmez defeated 17-year-old Russian Alina Korneeva 7-6, 6-2 in the semifinals.
SportsLigue