RIYADH: World No. 2 Iga Swiatek began her quest for a second WTA Finals trophy with a 6-1 6-2 win over Australian Open champion Madison Keys in their round robin clash at the season-ending championships on Saturday.
The 2023 champion made a fast start in the Riyadh showpiece, winning 12 of the first 14 points to take a 3-0 lead as a rusty Keys struggled to find rhythm on serve in her first match since a stunning US Open first-round defeat in late August.
Swiatek continued to pile the pressure on her American opponent, who looked out of sorts in her first appearance in the season finale since her debut in 2016, and the Pole raced away to take the opening set dropping only one game.
The pair swapped breaks at the start of the second set, but an untimely double fault from Keys handed the advantage back to Swiatek, who made no mistake from there to wrap up the victory on serve in only 61 minutes.
The WTA Finals, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world, has a record prize pool of $15.5 million and offers 1,500 points. The tournament culminates with the finals at King Saud University Sports Arena on Nov. 8.
On Sunday, the top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will begin her bid for a maiden WTA Finals title when the Belarusian takes on two-times major finalist Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the Steffi Graf Group before holder Coco Gauff meets fellow American Jessica Pegula.
Unlike in the previous two editions of the tournament, the year-end world No. 1 ranking will not be up for grabs with US Open champion Sabalenka assured of finishing on top after building a 1,675-point lead over Swiatek heading to Riyadh.
Elsewhere, Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime boosted his chances of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals with a 7-6(3) 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the semifinals of the Paris Masters on Saturday.
The US Open semifinalist leapfrogged Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti to eighth place in the ATP Race to Turin standings and could secure his second ATP Finals appearance after 2022 if he wins Sunday’s final.
The 25-year-old will face either four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner or world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the title showdown.
“I’m so happy. A Masters 1000 final sounds so good. You don’t play those finals every week. Hopefully, I can go all the way and get the title,” Auger-Aliassime said.
“But in terms of today, you get into a Masters and every match is tough ... You’re always kind of curious to see how your game is going to match up.
“I have deep self-confidence in my game; I know what I can do against the best players in the world but you still have to go and execute. Today I did really well and I’m happy with the result.”
The opening set was a serving clinic from both players, with neither conceding a break or even a break point. Locked at 6-6, the set went to a tiebreak, where Auger-Aliassime seized a 4-2 lead and closed it out comfortably.
In a scrappy second set, 13th seed Bublik started brightly, breaking Auger-Aliassime early to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Canadian world No. 10 responded immediately by breaking back, drawing frustration from Bublik, who smashed his racket.
Bublik recovered to take a 4-1 lead, but Auger-Aliassime came to life, reeling off five straight games to seal his place in the final in one hour and 36 minutes.
