Iga Swiatek took less than an hour to regain her world number one spot after sweeping aside Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-0 in the final of the WTA Finals in Cancun.
The 22-year-old Pole proved far too strong for the fifth-seeded Pegula in a final held over to Monday due to persistent bad weather during the tournament.
Pegula had started solidly on her own serve but swiftly unravelled, as Swiatek ruthlessly punished her American opponent’s errors to break twice in succession then serve out to love to take the opening set.
Further unforced errors gifted Swiatek the opening game of the second set and by the time Pegula was broken again – this time to love – to fall 3-0 behind, her body language already indicated the tie was all but over.
Pegula fashioned her first and only break point of the match when Swiatek served for the title at 5-0, but hit a backhand into the net and the Pole duly served to take the title with 59 minutes on the clock.
Her victory sealed a sixth WTA title of the year for Swiatek, who also won her third French Open, while Pegula will end a year that saw her reach two grand slam quarter-finals ranked fifth.
It concluded a troubled tournament which drew criticism from the eight leading women players for its problematic build-up, with the temporary venue only completed with one day to spare.
Sabalenka dominates Yastremska to reach Italian Open fourth round
Aryna Sabalenka dominated Dayana Yastremska to reach the fourth round of the Italian Open on Sunday.
Sabalenka, who claimed Australian Open glory for the second time earlier this year without dropping a set, eased to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Yastremska.
Yastremska headed into the third-round contest having beaten Sabalenka in all three of their previous meetings, but the world number two found a crucial break of serve in the seventh game of the opening set before going on to hold twice more to take the ascendancy.
Yastremska's resolve was broken further in an epic third game of the second set, surviving six break points before Sabalenka finally got over the line to tighten her grip on the match.
Sabalenka didn't look back from there, breaking Yastremska again before going on to seal her place in the fourth round.
Sabalenka will take on either Sara Errani or Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round as she looks to win the Italian Open for the first time ahead of the French Open later this month, where she will bid to improve on her semi-final appearance last year.
Data debrief
Since 2018, when Sabalenka achieved her first WTA 1000 win, she is now the player with the joint-most wins in such events (90, equalling Iga Swiatek).
Sabalenka may have lost her three previous games against Yastremska, but the last meeting between the pair was in 2020, and the two-time grand slam champion showed how much her game has progressed since then as she won all nine of her service games while breaking her Ukrainian opponent three times on her way to victory.
Nadal facing difficult decision over French Open involvement
Rafael Nadal will do everything he can to play at the French Open this month, but he admits he has a decision to make on his involvement after crashing out of the Italian Open on Saturday.
Nadal – a 10-time champion in Rome – suffered a resounding 6-1 6-3 defeat against Hubert Hurkacz on the clay, the Pole producing a polished performance to halt his run in the second round.
The Spaniard has said he will likely call time on his glittering career at the end of the season, having been troubled by hip and abdominal injuries in recent years.
The 37-year-old was also beaten by Jiri Lehecka in the last 16 at the Madrid Open last month, and he acknowledges he is currently some way short of the level required to challenge for a record-extending 15th French Open title.
Speaking after Saturday's defeat, Nadal said: "The time has come to make a decision, in case I might not play Roland-Garros.
"One is to say, 'okay, I am not ready, I am not playing well enough'.
"Another is to accept how I am today and work the proper way to try to be in a different way in two weeks. If I have to say which side I lean towards, it's to try to play it and give my best.
"Physically I have some issues, but probably not enough to say no to playing in the most important event of my tennis career."
The year's second grand slam begins at Roland Garros on May 20, with the men's singles final taking place on June 9.
Medvedev and Osaka through with straight-sets wins at Italian Open
Daniil Medvedev and Noami Osaka both advanced at the Italian Open with straight-sets wins on Saturday, the former eliminating Britain's Jack Draper with a 7-5 6-4 success.
Second seed Medvedev – who won the Rome event last year – was tested by Draper, the world number four saving seven of 10 break points faced in a one-hour, 47-minute contest.
Draper was in the ascendency when he broke Medvedev's serve to make it 5-5 in the first set, but Medvedev hit straight back before serving out the opener.
The Russian stepped things up from there and raced into a 5-1 lead in the second set, one Draper was unable to overturn as Medvedev teed up a last-32 clash with Hamad Medjedovic for Sunday.
In the women's draw, four-time grand slam champion Osaka overcame 10th seed Daria Kasatkina in another impressive straight-sets triumph, two days after recording her first clay-court win over a top-20 opponent in Marta Kostyuk.
She eased to a 6-3 6-3 victory in Saturday's last-32 encounter and will now face China's Qinwen Zheng for a place in the quarter-finals on Monday.
Data Debrief: Osaka's new love for clay
Coming into this year's Italian Open, Osaka was 0-8 throughout her career against top-20 opponents on clay, but she has now recorded two such wins in a row for the very first time.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
