Thunderbolt in Riyadh! Title holder, world No. 2 Iga Swiatek was eliminated from the WTA Masters in the group stage, condemned by the surprise victory of the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (13th) against the American Coco Gauff (3rd). “It’s a very big victory for me,” said Krejcikova after her success, which also allowed her to finish at the top of the Orange group at the Masters and avoid world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. finals.
The Czech will face the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (7th) on Friday for a place in the final while Sabalenka will play against Gauff, certainly the shock of this last four. Whoever wins the tournament, it will be a first. The last nine editions of the WTA Masters have crowned nine different players, the last to have retained her title being the American Serena Williams, winner of the tournament from 2012 to 2014.
The afternoon had started well for Swiatek, victorious in an expeditious manner over Daria Kasatkina (9th) in 51 minutes (6-0, 6-1). But the Pole’s two victories in three group matches were not enough to ensure her qualification, with the defeat conceded on Tuesday against Gauff ultimately proving fatal. Krejcikova, Gauff and Swiatek each having two victories and one defeat at the end of the group stage, it was the percentage of sets won which decided them: 71.4% for the Czech (5 sets won out of 7 played), 66 .7% for the American (4 out of 6) and 57.1% for the Polish (4 out of 7).
Swiatek’s return to competition is thus cut short, two months after his last racquet hits at the US Open. Since her defeat in the quarter-finals in New York, the one who occupied the place of world No. 1 until October – before being overtaken by Sabalenka – has changed coach, her compatriot Tomasz Wiktorowski giving up his place to the Belgian Wim Fissette, former coach of Kim Clijsters and Naomi Osaka.
With this second elimination in the group stage of the Masters, after that of 2021, there remains only the Billie Jean King Cup (November 13-20) to compete for Swiatek before putting an end to a season marked by his fourth triumph at Roland-Garros.
Winner of Wimbledon in 2024 after winning Roland-Garros in 2021, Krejcikova conversely achieved her best performance at the WTA Masters, after her elimination in the group stage during her only participation in 2021 (three defeats in as many matches) . “I’m super proud of myself, I fought on every ball,” reacted the Czech after her victory against Gauff.
In a close match, Krejcikova was much more realistic than the American, converting her break points at 5-5 in the first set and 4-4 in the second, where Gauff overused hers, multiplying the faults direct.
A sign of the excitement of the two players: in the last game, Gauff wasted four break points while Krejcikova had to wait for her third match point to finally manage to conclude after 1h42 of play.
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