France’s Caroline Garcia and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka both earned unexpected wins in the semis of the WTA Finals to reach the summit clash for the first time in their careers at Fort Worth Texas.
Up first, Garcia overcame Greece’s previously unbeaten Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 in just 75 minutes courtesy of 19 winners.
The Frenchwoman earned a break late in the first set to take the lead before carrying that momentum into the second to earn a 4-0 lead with her serve bailing her out from the only breakpoint trouble.
With the win, Garcia moved to 3-0 against Sakkari in career matchups.
Meanwhile, the bigger upset came in the second semifinal with Aryna Sabalenka getting the better of World Number 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2 2-6 6-1 and ending her 15-match winning streak against top-10 opponents.
Swiatek who was yet to drop a set in the Finals had trouble dealing with the powerful forehand of the Belarusian whose 9 out 10 career victories have come on hard courts.
The pair traded early breaks before Sablaenka capitalised on the Poles’ errors to win the first set before Swiatek responded by racing to a 4-0 lead in the second and tying the score.
But Sabalenka responded in kind, dropping only two of her first-serve points in the decider without facing a break point to claim her third career win over a number-one ranked opponent.
The loss ends a remarkable year for Swiatek who added the French Open and US Open along with eight titles to her resume while recording 67 victories and a 37-match unbeaten run, the longest in women’s tennis in a quarter-century, this year.
Garcia and Sabalenka will not vie for the WTA Finals trophy tomorrow (PKT) with Garcia having won the pair’s former meeting en route to the Cincinnati Open title.
