Iga Swiatek could extend WTA Rankings lead with United Cup final singles win

James Richardson 06 Jan 2024 2:10 PM

Iga Swiatek of Poland, left, and Coco Gauff of the United States smile ahead of their match

Iga Swiatek can ensure that she will extend her lead at the top of the WTA Rankings if she can win her final singles match at the United Cup.

Swiatek battled back from behind to clinch her nation’s semi-final tie against France, as she recorded a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over 20th-ranked Caroline Garcia.

The win means that Swiatek could inch further ahead of world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka despite the Belarusian still being in the mix to claim the Brisbane International title.

Sabalenka will contest the Brisbane final against a familiar opponent in Elena Rybakina who has secured a one-place rankings bump as things stand.

Rybakina may yet surrender the No 3 ranking if she loses the Brisbane International final and Coco Gauff wins the Auckland Classic. She faces Elina Svitolina in the final with the Ukranian out to edge closer to breaking back into the top 20.

Gauff can only hope to retain her points from last season as the defending champion but doing so would put he just ahead of Rybakina should the Kazakh No 1 fail to best Sabalenka.

If Sabalenka wins the final and Swiatek wins her singles match in the United Cup final, the Pole will move just five points further ahead of the Belarusian. However, if Swiatek loses and Sabalenka wins, it will be the latter that closes on the former, with the gap then set to shrink to just 540 rankings points.

Swiatek isn’t focused on the rankings battle right now as she seeks to aid Poland’s bid to win the United Cup.

“I’m happy that I came back and I didn’t make so many mistakes as in the first set. For sure, Caro was putting pressure as usual, so I’m happy that we’re through to the final,” Swiatek said.

“Hubi played a great match today. He had everything under control, and it was nice watching that. For sure it [made it] a little bit easier for me.”

Swiatek wouldn’t single out any factors that caused her to improve after a slow start to her match against Garcia.

“Sometimes it’s a bit hard to point [to] one thing that changed [after the first set]. I just feel like I needed to calm down a little bit and not rush it, and also observe the ball a little bit more, because I felt like I was sometimes off the timing,” Swiatek said.

“Maybe because we came from Perth, but for sure I needed some time to adjust, and I did that, so I’m happy.”