WTA Finals: Swiatek fails to make last four despite victory

Iga Swiatek has been eliminated from the WTA Finals in Riyadh, with the defending champion crashing out of the year-end event despite a dominant victory over Daria Kasatkina on Thursday.

The Pole won two of her three matches in the Orange Group, yet she failed to make the top two courtesy of Barbora Krejcikova defeating Coco Gauff later in the day.

All three women ended on two wins and one loss, with set-win percentage determining who advances.

That means Swiatek’s 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kasatkina counted for nothing — something which shocked her when she found out post-match.

“You mean, it didn’t matter?” she said.

Swiatek’s coach, Wim Fissette, who has been working with her just three weeks, is still taking positives from the 23-year-old’s effort at the WTA Finals.

“I think the perfect match from Iga today and I’m really happy to see her play to this level,” he said.

“It’s all pretty new for me.

“It’s a tough match with Krejcikova and a difficult match against Gauff, now I have seen the perfect match against Kasatkina so I am learning a lot.

“The forehand was definitely better today. We worked on it a bit this morning. Happy to see it working so well.”

With Krejcikova topping the Orange Group, she will face Zheng Qinwen in the semi-finals on Friday, while Gauff takes on world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the other knockout match.

Tennis betting sites have Zheng as a -227.27 favourite to beat Krejcikova, despite the Czech’s brilliant form in Riyadh.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka is a -250 chance at Bovada for her clash with Gauff, who sits at +175.

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