WTA roundup: Iga Swiatek begins robust at WTA Finals

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland began her fifth consecutive WTA Finals appearance with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against No. 7 seed Madison Keys on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Swiatek converted five of eight break points and took advantage of seven double faults by a rusty Keys, who hadn’t played in 68 days since losing in the first round of the U.S. Open.

With the 61-minute victory, Swiatek improved to 6-2 head-to-head against Keys.

“Kind of (happy) with everything,” Swiatek said. “Mostly my serve and overall focus. I was in the zone from the beginning to the end, and I really wanted to keep it that way.”

Swiatek and Keys are in the Serena Williams Group along with No. 4 Amanda Anisimova and No. 6 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Also on Saturday, Rybakina recorded a 6-3, 6-1 win against Anisimova in just 57 minutes. Rybakina struck seven aces and won 87% points on her first serve (27 of 31) while saving the only break point she faced.

The Stefanie Graf group features No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 5 Jessica Pegula and No. 8 Jasmine Paolini.

Hong Kong Tennis Open

Third-seeded Victoria Mboko rallied past fellow Canadian and No. 2 seed Leylah Fernandez 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final.

It was the third time in four matches this week that Mboko rallied from a set down. The momentum in this match turned after Fernandez took a medical timeout for an apparent thigh injury while leading 2-1 in the second set. Mboko won 11 of the next 14 games to advance.

Mboko, 19, won her maiden WTA Tour title at the Canadian Open in August. Her opponent on Sunday is unseeded 27-year-old Spaniard Cristina Bucsa, who ousted No. 5 seed Maya Joint 6-3, 6-1 in just 57 minutes to reach the first tour-level final of her career.

Jiangxi Open

Teenage wild card Lilli Tagger of Austria saved triple match point and reached her first WTA tournament final with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory against No. 2 seed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.

Tagger, 17, trailed 5-2 in the third set and was down 5-4 and 40-love when she won 13 consecutive points to finish off the remarkable comeback.

Tagger will take on Russian Anna Blinkova, who converted six of 15 break points in a 6-4, 6-4 win against Dominika Salkova of the Czech Republic in the other semifinal. Blinkova, 27, is seeking her second singles title and first since the Transylvania Open in 2022.

Chennai Open

Fourth-seeded Janice Tjen of Indonesia and No. 7 seed Kimberly Birrell of Australia will meet in Sunday’s final as both players seek their maiden WTA Tour title in Chennai, India.

Tjen survived 12 aces from Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) to win in two hours and 24 minutes. Tjen overcame a 4-1 deficit in the first tiebreak and a 3-1 deficit in the second.

Birrell rallied for a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-5 win against Taiwan’s Joanna Garland in a three-hour, 24-minute marathon. Birrell converted four of 18 break points and overcame eight double faults.

–Field Level Media