By Chris Oddo | @ElNiñoFan | Tuesday 1 November 2022
Iga Swiatek earned her 13th victory over top 10 competition at Tuesday’s WTA Finals when she defeated Daria Kasatkina.
Iga Swiatek continues to dominate elite talent on the WTA Tour even as the season draws to a close.
The number 1 in the world ran for Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday to move atop the Tracy Austin Group standings at the WTA Finals.
Swiatek has now won her last 13 games against the top 10 players, winning five on the trot against Kasatkina and winning each of her five 2022 tournaments in straight sets.
“I felt like I could play very aggressively,” Swiatek said after improving to 65-8 for the season. “On the other hand, you really have to be careful with these balls here. So I have to balance it out, I think I did pretty well at first. That gave me confidence for the rest of the match. I’m glad we got used to the conditions pretty quickly.”
Swiatek never seemed to mind Kasatkina as she dominated the court and pushed the Russian behind the baseline. He didn’t allow a single break of serve, he saved all three break points he faced and hit 24 winners against just five for Kasatkina.
“I think I started off pretty well and that gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “So I played aggressively, but on the other hand you have to be careful and very patient against Dasha, so yeah, I wanted to play solid but put pressure on my opponent and I did pretty well.”
Tracy Austin’s group standings after Tuesday’s game
Individual classification after Day 2 in the Tracy Austin Group pic.twitter.com/FxrXCnOqe8
– TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) November 2, 2022
Garcia beats Gauff
After day 2, the French Caroline García is in second place in the general classification. The resurrected 29-year-old recklessly finished Gauff 6:4, 6:3 for the second time in two months.
Garcia, who parted ways with his coach Bertrand Perret just before the tournament, was unbothered by the situation in his camp. She was assertive and performed well at net, winning 14 of 21 points at net.
Garcia had four game points in the game’s opening game, but was still broken. He said that he is happy with the way he doesn’t get stressed.
“The most important thing today was really staying really positive, really focused on the present moments,” she said. “I had the opportunity to win my first game. They arrested me. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s not good.’
Garcia immediately equalized in the next game and clinched the set with a break in game ten.
“I was very calm, very positive and I was able to come right back and I had my chance at 5-4 and then I broke it very early,” she said, adding praise for the 18-year-old.
“She is a great player, she is already a great champion. She is starting to be more aggressive, she likes to connect to the Internet more and solutions must always be found. She never stands up to Coco.”
In the second set, Gauff was back at 2-3, but dropped her next service game and never recovered.
Garcia was ranked 74th at this point last year, but he was a revelation on the 2022 tour, changing tactics and playing an extremely aggressive style of tennis that steals the racket out of his opponent’s hands.
He improves to 40-19 on the season, with three titles – Cincinnati, Warsaw, Bad Homburg – to his name.
This is her second appearance at the WTA Finals and her first since 2017. Gauff, the youngest player to play in both singles and doubles finals since 1999, is making her debut in both disciplines.
Source: www.tennisnow.com
