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Iga Swiatek needed to win the WTA Finals on Monday to regain her place as the world’s highest-ranked woman in singles. And so, she did, without much problems, defeating Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-0 in the finale, within a minute still left on the clock to strike an hour.
Entering the final, Swiatek and Pegula were the only two contestants who’d not dropped a match in the round-robin stage and as such were on a four-match win streak. When play began, Swiatek made it clear that she would be the one whose streak of wins wouldn’t come to an end in Mexico.
Pegula hadn’t lost a set in her four previous matches but against Swiatek, despite her best efforts, she couldn’t muster an adequate response. In the first set, Swiatek won 12 of 13 points played on her first serve while winning five of 10 points on return on the American’s first serve.
The Pole won four of seven second-serve points and four of six points on return on her opponent’s second serve in the set. In the second set, the 22-year-old won more second-serve points than her first serve even as she left Pegula hobbling to win points across, both her first and second serves.
Swiatek won five of seven points on return on Pegula’s first serve and eight of 11 points on second-serve return. She put nine points each on her first and second serves, and won six and seven points respectively.
WTA Finals: Iga Swiatek makes everything look easy
After her win, speaking about wrapping up the year as the world no.
1, Swiatek said, “Coming back to world number one, it's a dream come true, for sure. I would say I wasn't expecting that right now, this season. I was hoping that maybe next year is going be my year, but it seems like you know, just working hard and focusing on the right things at the end worked.
So, I'm really happy”. Her victory at the WTA Finals was the 11th win on the trot for Iga Swiatek, who won the Beijing Open a couple of weeks prior. Meanwhile, this is the second year in a row that she’s finished as the top-ranked women’s singles player.
Jessica Pegula will end the year ranked fourth in the world, behind fellow countrywoman, Coco Gauff, who finished her year ranked third in the world. Aryna Sabalenka’s the world no. 2 with Elena Rybakina ranked fifth.