Swiatek shakes off rust & Gauff wins at WTA Finals

Iga Swiatek began her bid to regain the world number one ranking with a comeback win over Barbora Krejcikova in the WTA Finals group stages.

Poland’s Swiatek trailed the Wimbledon champion by a set and double break before regrouping to win 4-6 7-5 6-2.

This was the 23-year-old’s first match since her quarter-final US Open exit in September and first under new coach Wim Fissette.

“At the beginning I felt a bit rusty but I’m happy that I found a way to play a bit more solid,” said Swiatek.

She and Aryna Sabalenka are in contention to finish the year as the top-ranked player.

Defending champion Swiatek will need to win the title to replace Sabalenka, while the Belarusian needs to win all three round-robin matches, external or reach the final.

Sabalenka began her campaign with victory over Zheng Qinwen on Saturday.

Coco Gauff beat fellow American and doubles partner Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-2 in the second Orange Group match on Sunday.

The top two players from each group advance to the semi-finals, with Sabalenka, Zheng, Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini in the Purple Group.

The tournament is being held in Saudi Arabia for the first time – a move which has been criticised by some because of the country’s human rights record.

However, four unforced errors in a row from Pegula handed Gauff the break back, and the younger American promptly won four games in a row to clinch victory.

“Sometimes it was sloppy, sometimes it was great – but that’s tennis,” said Gauff.

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