Sabalenka To Face Paolini; Swiatek Rallies, Gauff Bests Pegula
by Staff | November 3rd, 2024, 11:53 pm
Two days down and all eight players have seen action at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Sunday, the Orange Group saw action with Coco Gauff cruising past countrywoman Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2.
“I think maybe I served better than previous times and this is our first time, I think, playing each other on indoor hard, so maybe that had something to do with it,” Gauff said after.
“I don’t know. I think I know I’ve lost to her a lot, but it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, because we do practice a lot, and obviously when we’re playing sometimes I win practice sets, sometimes she does. So it doesn’t feel like the head to head is as bad as it was.”
Defending champion Iga Swiatek was in deep trouble to Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Krejcikova was well on her way to another big win leading 6-4, 3-0 up two breaks before Swiatek ran off 13 of the last 18 games.
“Honestly, I just focused on getting the balls in,” Swiatek said. “I needed to focus on the easy stuff. My main goal was just to be solid.
“I’m happy that I won because at the beginning I felt a little bit rusty. “
Swiatek will face Gauff in a big showdown Tuesday while Krejcikova will take on Pegula.
“It definitely wasn’t the best tennis I can play, but I was really quite solid,” Krejcikova said afterward. “I just feel I lost a little bit the momentum of the match and obviously, I’m not really sure if it was me or Iga. She just came up and started to play more aggressive, started to hit her targets better.”
On Monday, the round robin continues with the Purple Group as Aryna Sabalenka takes on Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen and Elena Rybakina collide with the loser all but out.
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