Aryna Sabalenka surprised Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals Fort Worth, defeating her by 2-1 (6:2, 2:6, 6:1) in 2:09 hours. Thus, the Belarusian tennis player will play on the final of the WTA Finals Fort Worth tournament, facing Caroline Garcia.
Aryna Sabalenka made 12 aces, 23 winners, and 19 unforced errors and won 68% of her 1st serve points On the other hand, Iga Swiatek made only one ace and 6 double faults, 26 winners and 26 unforced errors, but only 53% of the first serve points.
Aryna Sabalenka took a lead by 2:0 at the very beginning of the first set. However, the world’s number one Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek returned the break and reduced the score to 2:1. The fourth game in the set, was the turning point in the set at the serve of Iga Swiatek. The Belarusian player won it from the second breakpoint and took a lead by 3:1. She won her next serve game and both exchanged one game in their favor. Thus at 5:2, Iga Swiatek served to remain in the set, but Aryna Sabalenka stunned her and registered another break to win the set by 6:2.
In the second set, Iga Swiatek woke up and took 4 consecutive games to take a lead by 4:0. Aryna Sabalenka won her serve game and even returned one of the breaks to reduce the score to 4:2 but the Polish player was focused and closed the set at 6:2. Thus the score was equalized.
The third decisive set started equally, with both players winning their serve games. However, in the 4th game, Iga Swiatek missed three points to win her own serve game, which gave a break point to Aryna Sabalenka. Even though she missed the first break point, succeeded to break her opponent on the second attempt. Thus, Aryna Sabalenka took the lead of 3:1, which broke the confidence of Iga Swiatek. Maybe this was the key game in the set, after which Aryna Sabalenka won the next 3 games and thus won the match.
Aryna Sabalenka will play on the singles final of the WTA Finals Fort Worth versus Caroline Garcia (France).
