Surprising information straight from Riyadh. Iga Świątek will not play in the WTA Finals group stage match against Jessica Pegula on Thursday. The American withdrew from further competition. In her place, the Pole's Thursday rival will be the reserve, Russian Daria Kasatkina.
Jessica Pegula she withdrew from the tournament due to a knee injury. Her place will be taken by the first reserve and ninth in the world ranking Daria Kasatkina.
On Thursday, at the end of the group stage competition Kasatkina will stand in the way of Iga Świątek. The match starts at 1:30 p.m.
Świątek must make up for the losses after defeat to Coco Gauff. The Pole would advance to the semi-finals if she won against Kasatkina, while Gauff won against the Czech Barbora Krejcikova.
The defending champion Świątek is fighting for her third semi-final in the WTA Finals.
Tuesday's defeat of Świątek against Gauff means that Aryna Sabalenka will end 2024 as the leader of the world ranking.
On Wednesday Sabalenka she lost to Yelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-3, 1-6 in her last group stage match. Despite this, the Belarusian advanced to the semi-finals from first place.
The Chinese woman qualified for the second place Qinwen Zhengwho a few hours earlier won against the Italian Jasmine Paolini 6:1, 6:1.
