The Polish Iga Swiatek, world No. 2, successfully returned to competition after two months of absence by overthrowing the Czech Barbora Krejcikova in three sets (4-6, 7-5, 6-2) for her entry into the running at the WTA Masters, in Riyadh.
Overtaken in the first set and led 3-0 in the second, Swiatek – long undermined by her unforced errors (47), often crude – was able to regain regularity to turn the situation around in the second set and largely dominate the third, imposing in 2h35.
The 23-year-old Pole, who skipped the Asian tour in the fall for “personal reasons”, and who recently changed coaches, was playing again for the first time since her defeat in the quarter-finals of the US Open, early September.
Crowned at Roland-Garros for the third consecutive time in May, Swiatek lost her place as world No. 1 at the end of October to the benefit of the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, an easy winner over the Chinese Zheng on Saturday for her first match at the Masters.
To hope to recover her throne, the Pole must win this end-of-season tournament – which she easily won last year by crushing the American Jessica Pegula – and hope for a poor performance from Sabalenka.
Facing Swiatek, Krejcikova (28), victorious at Wimbledon this season but last seeded in Riyadh (No 8), did not go the distance, for her return to singles at the Masters after three years of absence.
The two players play in the orange group, which also includes the Americans Coco Gauff (No. 3) and Jessica Pegula (No. 6), who face each other immediately.
