Everything went according to plan for Iga Swiatek in Cancún’s Estadio Paradisus. She did not drop a single set during the course of the Finals containing the year’s eight most successful singles players and doubles teams. In the group phase, she first won 7-6(3), 6-0 against the Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, then 6-0, 7-5 against the US Open champion Coco Gauff and finally 6-1, 6-2 against Ons Jabeur. In the semifinals she faced the current world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, her opponent in the final in each of the last two years at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Like in Stuttgart, she again came on top after a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Her magnificent win in the final against the American Jessica Pegula in which she clinched the match with her first match point after only 59 minutes means Iga Swiatek is not only the first Polish winner of the WTA Finals since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2015. She is also the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to win a tournament at every WTA level – Warsaw (250), Doha and Stuttgart (500), Beijing (1000), Roland Garros (Grand Slam) and now the WTA Finals. Her success in Cancún was her sixth title of the season – no other player was so successful. She has now amassed a total of 17 career titles and will end the year as the world No. 1 for the second consecutive year.
Laura Siegemund wins the doubles with Vera Zvonareva
By winning the WTA Finals doubles, Laura Siegemund has celebrated one of the biggest achievements of her career. The Porsche Team Germany player and her partner Vera Zvonareva qualified at the last minute for Cancún by winning in Nanchang. Seeded No. 6, the 2020 US Open champions were in excellent form throughout the tournament and came on top in the final after a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 win again the America/Australian pairing of Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez.
The 35-year-old German and her four year older partner had to dig deep to reach the final. As the inclement weather on the Gulf of Mexico had seriously disrupted the schedule, they were forced to play twice on Sunday. First up was the last group match against the No. 1 seeds Jessica Pegula/Coco Gauff which was suspended the day before with the score at 6-3, 1-1 to the Americans. They then took the second set 6-4 and the third 10-8 in the champions tie-break. Also on Sunday, they then faced the No. 2 seeds Storm Hunter/Elise Mertens (Australia/Belgium) in the semifinals. The duo lost the first set once again. Playing impressive tennis, they battled their way back to eventually win 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.
Laura Siegemund is the first German to win the doubles at the WTA Finals – a historical achievement. Prior to the triumph in Cancún, the 2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix singles winner had already captured the doubles at Washington DC, Ningbo and Nanchang together with Vera Zvonareva. They also reached this year’s US Open final in New York.
“It’s an unforgettable moment. I’m so proud of us and our team,” said Laura Siegemund before tennis icon Chris Evert presented the Martina Navratilova Trophy to the victorious pair. “We didn’t always play our best tennis this year. But even when things weren’t going so well, we stuck together and supported each other. It makes us so strong.”
