Tennis - WTA Finals - Cancun, Mexico - November 5, 2023 Poland's Iga Swiatek in action during her semi final match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Henry Romero Acquire Licensing RightsNov 5 (Reuters) - Poland's Iga Swiatek knocked out rival Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-2 in the semi-final of the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun on Sunday, putting the world number one ranking within her reach ahead of Monday's title match.
The current number one Sabalenka ended Swiatek's WTA Finals campaign in the penultimate stage a year ago but lacked her usual lethal power in Cancun, as a flurry of forehand errors undermined her best efforts.
The four-time major winner Swiatek wrested the momentum immediately when play resumed on Sunday, and broke Sabalenka's serve in the fourth game.
The 22-year-old pumped her fists and cheered wildly as the Australian Open champion Sabalenka sent one into the net on match point.
She faces a tough challenge against an in-form Pegula, who shredded the U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff 6-2 6-1 to reach the title match on Saturday.
Persons:
Iga, Aryna Sabalenka, Henry Romero, Iga Swiatek, Aryna, Jessica Pegula, Swiatek, Sabalenka's, Sabalenka, I'm, Coco Gauff, Jessie, Amy Tennery, Pearl Josephine Nazare, Shri Navaratnam, Josie Kao, Raju Gopalakrishnan
Organizations:
Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS, WTA, China, Swiatek, Montreal, Thomson
Locations:
Cancun, Mexico, U.S, Pegula, New York, Bengaluru