Iga Swiatek dominated American Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-0 to win the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun on Monday and regain her world No 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka.
The four-time Grand Slam winner broke Pegula five times and saved the only break point she faced en route to her first WTA Finals trophy in a match delayed a day due to rain.
The first two games were shared, but then Swiatek seized complete control and reeled off the next 11 with her high-quality baseline game, rarely making an unforced error and repeatedly pressuring Pegula into mistakes.
The 22-year-old from Poland went 5-0 at the WTA tour’s season-closing championship, winning all 10 sets she played and ceding a total of just 20 games.
That is the fewest by the tournament’s winner since 2003, when it returned to a round-robin format. The previous low in that time was the 34 games dropped by Justine Henin in 2007.
Swiatek is also the youngest WTA Finals champion since 21-year-old Petra Kvitova in 2011 and extended her winning streak to 11 matches. She improved to 68-11 with six trophies in 2023, including at the French Open in June.
This victory allows her to return to the world No 1 she held from April 2022 until this September, when she relinquished it to Sabalenka, who she beat in a semi-final which began Saturday and finished on Sunday after being suspended due to rain.
Pegula had no answer to Swiatek in the WTA…
