Iga Swiatek recorded a dominant straight-set win over Jessica Pegula’s injury replacement, Daria Kasatkina. It required merely 51 minutes for the World No.2 to clinch a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Despite her commanding performance, Swiatek’s chances of qualifying for the knockout stage would be determined by the second singles clash of the day. Sadly, the Polish star wasn’t aware of such circumstances, leading to an awkward moment in the post-match press conference.
Swiatek was forced to three sets during the win against Barbora Krejcikova and suffered a straight-sets loss to Coco Gauff. Win or lose her match against Kasatkina, the five-time Grand Slam winner would only clinch a semifinal berth if Gauff won her game. However, she was only made aware of this scenario by reporters in the press conference.
“Did you understand going in that match would have no bearing on your advancement to the semifinals?” A reporter asked. Swiatek cluelessly replied, “You mean it didn’t matter? Why?”
Iga Swiatek’s reaction when she found out that her result had no bearing on her chances to qualify for the semi-finals in Riyadh #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/cWWEBFSVVs
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) November 7, 2024
To be fair, Iga gave a justification for not being aware of the developments in the group. She approached each of her matches wanting to win irrespective of the outcome it may have.
“Honestly, I don’t think it matters, like we go out on court to win every match anyway. So I wasn’t thinking about that. I didn’t know that this is the case,” the 23-year-old further said.
Unfortunately for Swiatek, Gauff wasn’t able to keep the latter’s WTA Finals 2024 title chances alive. The American youngster fell to Krejcikova 5-7, 4-6, putting an end to Swiatek’s run at the year-end tournament.
With the defending champion eliminated, the WTA Finals will witness a new champion for the 9th straight time.
WTA Finals 2024 awaits a new champion
Iga Swiatek was among the top two heavily favored players to win the event. Despite being injured for a significant part of the last few months, she was backed by many analysts and fans to defend her title.
Some also believed that Swiatek could’ve been the first player since Serena Williams to win this prestigious tournament on back-to-back occasions.
Since the American legend won it from 2012-2015, no player has been able to defend their throne. Eight different players have won the event on each of the eight occasions. This figure increases to nine following Iga’s elimination.
Perhaps Aryna Sabalenka can add another feather to her cap, complimenting her US Open, Australian Open, and World No.1 success by lifting the Billie Jean King Trophy in Saudi Arabia.
