Cancun (Mexico) (AFP) – World number two Ika Swijtek of Poland defeated number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to reach the final of the final WTA women’s tennis tournament in Cancun, Mexico. There she will face American Jessica Pegula.
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By defeating the Australian Open champion, Svyontek prevented her counterpart Sabalenka from achieving the victory that would have guaranteed her the top spot in the world rankings by the end of the year.
French Open champion Cheviontech can top the rankings for a second year in a row if he beats Pegula in Monday’s final.
“I feel that there is still a long way to go because I feel that tomorrow’s match will be very difficult,” Shevuntek said.
She continued, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow after the match. I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Sabalenka took away Svientek’s top spot in the rankings two months ago, and he will only keep it if Pegula wins the final.
In Saturday’s other semi-final match, Pegula defeated compatriot Koko Goff 6-2, 6-1 to claim her ninth straight win.
Shevandek leads 5-3 in head-to-head matches with Pegula, but the latter won two of their three meetings this year, at the United Cup and then in the semi-finals of the Montreal tournament last August, before Shevandek defeated him in the final of the Doha tournament.
“I can’t really tell you the keys to the game. I’ll just work on it,” Sheviontek said.
The final was postponed to Monday due to rain which caused complete chaos in the schedule of matches for the week at the Open Stadium in Cancun, including stopping the match between Shivuntek and Sabalenka after starting with three games on Saturday evening.
Swiatk was leading 2-1 on her serve when play resumed on Sunday and the Pole managed to break her opponent’s serve once in the first set.
The Pole then broke her opponent’s serve in the second set to go 5-2 up again before deciding the match and advancing to the final.
© 2023 AFP
