By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday November 3, 2023
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff rounded out the semifinal lineup at the WTA Finals with victories on Friday.
Photo Source: Getty
The drama continues to build at the WTA Finals.
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff powered through their final round robin matches on Friday night in Cancun to round out a semifinal quartet that also includes Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula.
2023 US Open champion Gauff edged 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in a match that was delayed by rain several times, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4.
Gauff becomes the first teenager to reach the last four at the WTA Finals since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009, and she’ll take part in the first all-American semifinal at the WTA Finals since the reintroduction of the round-robin format in 2003.
Swiatek raced past Ons Jabeur, ending the Tunisian’s season with a pulsating 6-1, 6-2 triumph that sets a semifinal with Sabalenka, who finished off her three set victory over Elena Rybakina earlier in the afternoon.
Swiatek has dropped just 14 games to go undefeated in round robin play at the WTA Finals for the second consecutive season. Sabalenka has a leg up on the race for the WTA’s year-end No.1 ranking, but Swiatek could finish the season at No.1 if she wins the title in Cancun.
Swiatek owns the 5-3 lifetime edge over Sabalenka, and the pair have split their two meetings in 2023. At last year’s WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Sabalenka defeated Swiatek in three sets in the semifinal.
Pegula leads Gauff 2-1 in their head-to-head, including a win over the teen in the quarterfinals at Montreal this year.