Iga Swiatek of Poland smashed Jessica Pegula to win the WTA Finals on Monday, reclaiming the world number one spot. Swiatek, the second seed, crushed Pegula from start to finish, winning 6-1, 6-0 in 59 minutes. Swiatek’s 17th career victory assures that the four-time major singles winner from Warsaw will complete the season as world number one for the second year in a row. Swiatek, 22, defeated defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals on Sunday. Sabalenka dethroned Swiatek as world number one after the US Open in September.
Pegula had defeated Swiatek in their previous meeting in Montreal in August, and had excelled on her route to Monday’s final, which had been pushed back 24 hours due to rain on Saturday.
But the 29-year-old New Yorker never seemed like she could repeat her Canadian victory over three-time French Open champion Swiatek, who was sharper in every aspect of her game. On serve, the Polish star dominated, as she dragged Pegula all over the court with whipping groundstrokes that left her opponent floundering.
Pegula struggled on serve as well, being broken five games and committing 23 unforced mistakes to Swiatek’s six. Swiatek, who only gave up one break point opportunity whole match, which Pegula failed to convert, sealed victory in the sixth game of the second set when the American pulled a backhand return long.
Swiatek grabbed command of Monday’s match early, breaking Pegula for 3-1 in the fourth game before holding and breaking again for a 5-1 advantage. She won the first set by serving out to love and then took that momentum into the second.
She broke Pegula twice in the first three games of the second set and then cruised to a 4-0 victory. Pegula, who had only won seven points on first serve throughout the match, was broken again, putting Swiatek on the verge of defeat. Pegula received rousing applause as she earned her first break point of the match on Swiatek’s serve.
Swiatek soon brought it back to deuce, then moved to match point by smashing a forehand winner with Pegula stranded, before clinching victory on the next point after another inaccurate groundstroke from the American.