Iga Swiatek blasts past Daria Kasatkina in impressive display in WTA Finals opener, Caroline Garcia beats Coco Gauff
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Updated 02/11/2022 at 07:18 GMT
Top seed Iga Swiatek brushed aside the challenge of Daria Kasatkina in the opening match of her WTA Finals campaign. The world No. 1 clinched a 6-2 6-3 victory in one hour, 22 minutes after starting fast in both sets and holding strong on serve. Swiatek will next face Caroline Garcia, who eased past Coco Gauff in her opening match in the Tracy Austin group.
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World No. 1 Iga Swiatek got off to a perfect start at the WTA Finals as she powered to a 6-2 6-3 win over eighth seed Daria Kasatkina to kick off proceedings in the Tracy Austin group.
Swiatek raced through the first set in just 36 minutes in a dominant start at Fort Worth that sent her heading towards a fifth win of the year against the Russian.
Her relentlessness didn’t drop in the second set, as the Pole earned an early break again and finished the job after one hour and 22 minutes on court.
The other match in the group saw Carolina Garcia ease to a 6-4 6-3 win over Coco Gauff in just one hour and 18 minutes.
Swiatek was knocked out at the round-robin stage last year in her only previous appearance at the WTA Finals, where the eight highest-ranked singles’ players in the world face off.
But she is bidding for her ninth title of an astonishing year in which she picked up two Grand Slam titles and put together a 37-match winning run.
Asked what she was happiest about from the match, Swiatek said: "For sure the start.
"Because I felt like I can really play aggressively but, on the other hand, with these balls here you have to be really careful. So I wanted to balance it, and I think I did that pretty well at the beginning."
The 21-year-old came flying out of the blocks with an energetic, purposeful start, holding her opening service game before breaking Kasatkina’s serve.
The Pole quickly went 40-0 up to earn three break points, and she took the third when the eighth seed steered a shot wide after saving the first two.
Kasatkina soon had a chance to immediately strike back when a double fault from Swiatek handed her two break points, but the top seed showed her class with some precise shot-making to save both and go on to hold.
The Russian had to save two more break points to earn her first hold at 3-1 and struggled to find any more joy on the Swiatek serve.
The French and US Open champion’s all-action performance went on as she continued to cause problems with hard and accurate groundstrokes, setting up two set points at 5-2 and taking the first with a powerful forehand that could only be returned into the net.
The second set started much like the first, Swiatek breaking early to take a 3-0 lead that set her on course for a quick victory.
Kasatkina was clinging on by her fingernails and couldn't find a way to break back, as Swiatek held strong to earn the chance to serve for the match.
An unreturnable first serve got the job done and ensured that the Pole remained unbroken in her opening match.
Garcia converted four of her eight break points and fired 20 winners as she beat Gauff, who is making her WTA Finals debut.
"It was definitely a good match, pretty solid on my side," said the sixth seed. "I think I stayed really positive at every moment."
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