Sabalenka defeats Swiatek in the WTA Finals to face Garcia for the title

• Aryna Sabalenka defeated Iga Swiatek in their two hours and seven minute semifinal matchup
• Sabalenka won her tour-leading 28th three-set match of the year
• Swiatek and Maria Sakkari both had 3-0 records after the round-robin round of the competition

Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 7 seed, defeated World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in their two hours and seven minute semifinal matchup on Sunday.

To advance to her third final of the year, Sabalenka won her tour-leading 28th three-set match of the year.

Sabalenka referred to her qualification for the WTA Finals as a “miracle” at the beginning of the week. Her miracle has now, however, continued all the way into the singles final in Fort Worth following a significant semifinal shock.

Sabalenka will now play Caroline Garcia, the No. 6 seed, for the WTA Finals singles championship, ending their tie at 2-2 in head-to-head matches. Sabalenka and Garcia will both end the year inside the Top 5 thanks to their victories in the semifinals.

Sabalenka, the former World No. 2, defeated Swiatek in their first match at the 2021 WTA Finals a year ago, but Swiatek has since dominated their rivalry, winning all four of their previous meetings this year.

Sabalenka was ahead of Swiatek by a break in the third set of their semifinal match at the US Open, but Swiatek turned the match around and ultimately won.

Sabalenka commented following the victory, “Overall, I was really calm on the court. The mindset was just I wanted to make her work for it. I didn’t want to give her another easy win, like she got (in the) first three wins. That’s the mindset I had during this match. I think that’s why I wasn’t really going for all those winners, all those aces, but I think because of the mindset, I made it a lot.” With an astounding 67-9 win-loss record and eight singles trophies, Swiatek caps off an unbelievable year. But with her loss to Sabalenka, her 15-match winning streak against other Top 10 players came to a stop.

Swiatek and Maria Sakkari both had 3-0 records after the round-robin round of the competition, however neither advanced to this week’s final. The last time a player with a 3-0 round-robin record missed the WTA Finals championship match came in 2015, when Garbie Muguruza and Maria Sharapova both lost in the semifinals despite being unbeaten.

Also Read

Iga Swiatek criticizes tennis tournaments’ risky scheduling

Iga Swiatek was due to compete in finals, begin on November 8...