Just two months after relinquishing the No. 1 rating, Iga Swiatek has come full circle, securing the year-end No. 1 rating in girls’s tennis with an astounding efficiency.
Swiatek’s technique was easy: to concentrate on taking part in her finest tennis, and the outcomes spoke for themselves. She overwhelmed Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-0 within the WTA Finals, capping a sequence of dominant performances.
“This year was like a highlight of this mental (approach) – just being narrow with your head, only thinking about the right stuff,” mentioned the 22-year-old Polish sensation, the youngest WTA Finals champion since 2011.
Swiatek’s flawless run within the tour’s season-closing championship noticed her go 5-0, successful all 10 units she performed and surrendering a mere 20 video games. This feat marked the fewest video games misplaced by a winner within the occasion for the highest eight girls because the round-robin format’s return in 2003.
Pegula, impressed by Swiatek’s dedication, famous, “She clearly really wanted that ranking. I mean, you could tell by the way she was competing here. … She was, like today, crushing people.”
Swiatek’s victory prolonged her successful streak to 11 matches, and he or she now boasts a 68-11 document in 2023 with six trophies, together with her fourth profession Grand Slam title on the French Open in June.
Pegula praised Swiatek’s unbelievable 12 months, which additionally allowed her to regain the No. 1 rating she held from April 2022 till September, when Aryna Sabalenka overtook her following the U.S. Open.
In a dramatic semifinal showdown in Cancun, Swiatek defeated Sabalenka, a match that started on Saturday, was interrupted by rain, and concluded on Sunday. Despite Pegula’s spectacular nine-match successful streak main as much as the ultimate, Swiatek emerged because the clear victor.
Swiatek outperformed Pegula in winners (9-6) and dedicated considerably fewer unforced errors (23-6). She broke Pegula’s serve 5 instances and confronted just one break level, which got here as she served for the match within the closing sport.
Swiatek’s domination continued along with her successful 25 of 36 factors within the first set and 26 of 36 within the second.
The closing befell beneath principally clear skies with significantly much less wind than gamers had confronted all through the week. Most importantly, there was no rain to interrupt the match.
In the doubles occasion, Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia clinched the title, defeating Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the U.S. and Ellen Perez of Australia with a rating of 6-4, 6-4.
Both the singles and doubles title matches have been initially scheduled for Sunday however have been postponed attributable to intermittent showers that affected the match.
Pegula summed up the week by acknowledging the challenges the gamers confronted, saying, “It hasn’t been the easiest week, for any of us.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
