Iga Swiatek has continued her quest for a ninth title of the season by storming past Caroline Garcia in straight sets at the WTA Finals.
The world No.1 dropped just five games during her 6-3, 6-2, win over the Frenchwoman in a match that was more challenging than the scoreline suggests. After dropping her serve in the third game of the match, Swiatek bounced back with the help of 17 winners, as well as winning 74% of her first service points. The Pole has dropped just 10 games in two matches played at the WTA Finals after also defeating Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3, earlier in the week.
“I feel like at the beginning, I didn’t have much confidence. And I kind of lost…she broke me basically because I couldn’t put my first serve in. But then I changed my technique a little bit.” Swiatek reflected during her press conference.
“I knew what I had to do to be more solid and I’m pretty happy that it worked because in the next games maybe I wasn’t serving perfectly. But we played a rally after that and I felt like in those rallies, I could really dominate. So for me, it was really important to put these first two balls in.”
Swiatek has now won 13 out of 14 matches played against top 10 opposition this season which is more than anybody else on the WTA Tour. As a result of her dominance over the past 10 months, she will become the first player since Serena Williams in 2013 to end the year with 10,000 or more ranking points.
The 21-year-old could earn up to 1500 points and $1,680,000 in prize money this week alone should she win the title without losing a match.
“It’s the last tournament of the season, so I have kind of nothing to lose. I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do next. I’m giving it 100% physically, and mentally as well.” She said.
Swiatek’s success in recent m months has been achieved under the guidance of her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski who previously worked with Agnieszka Radwanska. The two joined forces towards the end of last year and since then the tennis star has blossomed.
However, Swiatek admits that the two don’t always agree when it comes to tactics used during matches and she isn’t afraid to voice her opinion on certain matters.
“I wouldn’t say that we always agree with each other but we’re trying to kind of work it out in terms of me being able also to speak about how I feel I should play some rallies or something like that. But usually he’s right.” She said.
“I’m always going to be a person who’s going to have something to say. In the back of my mind, I hope he knows that. I’m pretty sure that he’s right. There were a couple of matches where I just wasn’t sure how to play and I completely did what he said and it worked out perfectly.”
It remains to be seen who will be joining Swiatek in the last four from her group. Kasatkina’s 7-6(6), 6-3, win over Coco Gauff eliminated the home favourite from the race to qualify. Meaning the Russian’s upcoming match with Garcia will decide who qualifies for the semi-finals.
