Iga Swiatek beats Aryna Sabalenka to reach final
Iga Swiatek has won five of her eight meetings with Jessica Pegula
Iga Swiatek will return to the top of the world rankings if she beats Jessica Pegula to win the end-of-season WTA Finals in Cancun on Monday.
Swiatek beat Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka, who in September replaced her as world number one after 75 consecutive weeks, 6-3 6-2 to reach the final.
The 22-year-old Pole is aiming to end a second successive season as number one.
“It’s still a long way away because I feel like tomorrow’s match will be the toughest one,” said Swiatek.
“We can talk about it tomorrow after the match. I’m just going to continue doing what I’ve been doing.”
American Pegula, 29, beat US Open champion Coco Gauff to reach the final in Mexico.
Four-time major winner Swiatek clinched her 10th consecutive victory in a semi-final that was suspended after three games because of rain on Saturday.
When it resumed on Sunday, Swiatek immediately broke Sabalenka’s serve, saved a break point for a 4-1 lead and served out the opening set.
Sabalenka, Australian Open champion and US Open runner-up this year, failed to create any further opportunities as Swiatek broke twice in the second set before wrapping up a victory that equalled the 67 wins she achieved in 2022.
Neither Swiatek nor Pegula has dropped a set this week. They have earned £1.2m in prize money and 1,080 ranking points, with the winner set to claim an additional £1.1m and 420 points.