Iga Swiatek absolutely crushed world No. 9 Daria Kasatkina 6-0 6-1 to improve to 2-1 at the WTA Finals but the Pole may still not make it past the group stage as she is now totally dependent on Coco Gauff.
Today, the five-time Grand Slam champion was due to face Jessica Pegula in her last Round Robin match in Riyadh. But after the American withdrew due to an injury, she was replaced by alternate Kasatkina.
However, it was no issue for Swiatek, who made a lightning start and won the opening five games before sealing the opener in the seventh game. In the second set, the new world No. 2 was even more dominant, bageling the Russian to complete an impressive straight-set win in just 51 minutes of play.
In around an hour and a half, Gauff (2-0) and Barbora Krejcikova (1-1) will take to the court. For Swiatek, the scenario is clear – if the American wins, she makes the semifinal – if the Czech wins, she is out of Riyadh after the group stage.
Swiatek promised she would bounce back and she did
After beating Krejcikova in her opener at the WTA Finals, the Pole delivered a lackluster performance against the 2023 US Open and ended up picking a 3-6 4-6 defeat. Afterward, she was the first to acknowledge her mistake and vowed to do better in her next match.
“Oh for sure I wasn’t solid enough and Coco used her opportunities much better than I did. I had some break points that I didn’t win and for sure I made more unforced errors. And when you play Coco, you need to be solid even though our head-to-head was more positive for me, still never easy to win against her. So today for sure, she was a better player and yeah I’m gonna try to adjust a bit better in my next match and try to do some stuff tomorrow in the practice court to be better,” the 23-year-old said two days ago.
It remains to be seen if Swiatek will continue her title defense with the help of Gauff or if she will be packing her bags later today.