Tennis
WTA Finals: Iga Swiatek scripts unreal comeback to beat Barbora Krejcikova
World No.2 Iga Swiatek made a stupendous comeback in her WTA Finals match on Sunday, November 3 against Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. Swiatek won the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in Riyadh.
Iga Swiatek pulled off a comeback for the ages after beating Barbora Krejcikova in the WTA Finals 2024. On Sunday, November 3, the World No.2 came back from 4-6, 0-3 down to take down her opponent in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It took Swiatek two hours and 33 minutes to win the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Swiatek, who was playing her first WTA match after her US Open 2024 exit back in September, looked “rusty” to begin with. Krejcikova, who won the Wimbledon this year after beating Jasmine Paolini in the final, was looking set for a stupendous victory before losing her way.
IGA SW
‘My game was not nice’
“It wasn’t easy. At the beginning I felt a bit rusty, but I’m happy that I found a way to play a little bit more solid. I didn’t feel great (at the beginning). Barbora also used that. The score went her way pretty quickly. I knew it was tight even in the first set and I had my chances so I just wanted to use them the next time,” Swiatek said.
“I heard it for sure. I missed that. In tough moments today when I heard you guys screaming, it helped me. Thank you for the support. Even though at the beginning my game wasn’t nice, you guys still believed,” Swiatek added.
After a clinical showing in the first set, Krejcikova broke Swiatek’s serve twice in the second. But the Polish star held her nerve to force the deciding set. Swiatek returned to her best in the third set, taking a 5-0 lead. Krejcikova struggled with her lower back and that did not help her.
After Aryna Sabalenka defeated Qinwen Zheng on Saturday, Swiatek needs to beat both Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff to have any chance of getting back his No.1 ranking.