American star Coco Gauff defeated world No. 2 Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday, sealing her spot in the semifinals of the year-end WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The 20-year-old Gauff beat Swiatek for only the second time in 13 career meetings – adding to her first win over the Pole at the 2023 Cincinnati Open. The straight-sets victory ended defending champion Swiatek’s six-match win streak at the WTA Finals.

With a 2-0 record in the round-robin play, Gauff moved to the top of the Orange table. After Barbora Krejcikova beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets, Gauff’s spot in the semifinals was confirmed, however, her position will be decided after her final group fixture against Krejcikova on Thursday.

“Obviously playing Iga is tough for me, but I’m really happy how I managed to play throughout the match,” Gauff said. “And, yeah, it was a fun crowd environment. It was pretty exciting. So I’m glad to get through today.”

How The Match Unfolded

Gauff cruised through the opening set without facing a breakpoint before Swiatek fought back in the early stages of the second.

However, Swiatek looked rusty on her return after a two-month layoff and struggled on her serve, as she handed Gauff her 52nd win of the year, the highest single-season tally of the American’s career.

Swiatek’s defeat to Gauff also confirmed Aryna Sabalenka will finish the season as the year-end world No.1 for the first time.

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“Well, for sure I wasn’t solid enough, and Coco used her opportunities much better than I did,” Swiatek said. “You know, I had some break points that I didn’t win. And for sure, I made more unforced errors.

“And when you play Coco, you know you need to be solid. Even though our head-to-head was more positive for me, it’s still never easy to win against her.

“So, for sure, she was a better player and I’m gonna try to adjust a bit better in my next match, and try to do some stuff tomorrow, practice more to play better,” Swiatek added.

Double Faults No Problem For Gauff

Gauff played 10 winners and had 33 unforced errors, 11 of which were double faults, while Swiatek had 15 winners but struck 47 unforced errors.

The American world No. 3 said she didn’t let the double faults get to her, learning from her mistakes during her semifinal run in Wuhan.

“I’m in the process of changing things, so it’s up and down, and I feel like it’s in the right direction,” Gauff explained.

“In the first set, no break point, which, yeah, I don’t even know if that’s ever happened against her particularly. So, yeah, I think it’s in the right direction.

“And I was still in the match, even if you know, I wasn’t serving well, which gives me confidence for the next one.”

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According to the WTA website, Gauff is the youngest player to reach back-to-back semifinals at the WTA Finals since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009-10 and the youngest American to do so since Tracy Austin in 1979-80.

From the Orange group, Swiatek and Krejcikova are both in contention for the semifinals. Five-time major winner Swiatek has only one route to the last four – she needs to beat Pegula in her final group match and hope Krejcikova loses to Gauff.