Iga Swiatek began her WTA finals defense by recovering from a set and double breakdown to win against Barbora Krejcikova in her first match in two months.
World No. 2 Swiatek has not played since losing in the quarterfinals to Jessica Pegula at the US Open last September, possibly because she lost the opening two sets.
The Pole looked headed for defeat when she went down 3-0 to Wimbledon champion Krejcikova in the second set, but then won 13 of her 17 matches to win 4-6 7-5 6-2.
Swiatek, who still has a chance of reclaiming the world No. 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka if she wins the tournament in Riyadh, stormed out to take a 5-0 lead in the deciding set.
A visibly exhausted Krejcikova took a break to stay in the match but lost serve again as Swiatek wrapped up the win in just over two and a half hours.
Swiatek, who beat Pegula 6-0 6-1 in last year’s Cancun final, had this to say about her comeback win over Krejcikova: It didn’t feel right at first, so I looked for ways to play more solidly.
“I just tried to do my usual thing. The ball was flying off my racket, so I tried to control it more. I knew I had that game in me. I just had to find it.”
What the Orange Group looks like after their first match
Swiatek played his first match under new coach Wim Fissette after parting ways with Tomasz Wiktorowski earlier this month.
The 23-year-old had a chance to break Krejcikova in the opening set, leading 0-30 in the fourth game and 0-40 in the sixth, but squandered it.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek eventually launched a successful Orange Group campaign with Coco Gauff.
Gauff sees off Pegula, which is full of errors.
Gauff beat fellow American and occasional doubles partner Pegula 6-3 6-2, her second win over her compatriot in six meetings and her only win on hard courts before coming on grass at Eastbourne in 2023. took the top spot.
Pegula, who lost to Sabalenka in this year’s US Open final, played inconsistently against Gauff, with her hot wins often followed by a string of errors.
The world number six threw his racket on the ground in frustration in the fourth game of the second set, which seemed to change his fortunes as he collapsed at 0-40.
But Pegula made four consecutive mistakes in the next game down 40-15, and Gauff immediately fought back to take a 3-2 lead.
Gauff went on to win the next three games and Pegula’s inconsistency continued, finishing the match with a superb forehand.
The 2023 US Open champion said of her win: “I’m happy with the way I played. Sometimes it’s sloppy, sometimes it’s great, but that’s tennis.
“We both played at a high level. I think we were able to hit some of the more important points.”
Monday’s WTA finals live on Sky Sports
The Purple Group’s players were back in action on Monday.
Elena Rybakina and chinwen jungThe pair, still looking for their first win in this year’s tournament, meet starting at approximately 12:30 p.m.
Then the match between the winners of the opening match begins. Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini Sound the horn starting around 3pm.
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