World Number 1 tennis star Iga Swiatek of Poland advanced to the final of the San Diego Open after defeating USA’s Jessica Pegula in the semifinal of the tournament on Saturday.
As per WTA, Swiatek defeated her opponent by 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. She came back from being one set down to clinch the next two sets comprehensively to seal her spot in the final, where she will meet the winner of the second semifinal between Danielle Collins and qualifier Donna Vekic.
She won her 63rd match of the season, equaling the total of Angelique Kerber for most WTA tour wins in past six years. She will become the fourth woman to finish the calendar year with more than 10,000 in WTA Tour Rankings after stars like Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.
There were three breaks of serve in the first set and momentum shifted continuously. After back to back breaks, Pegula faced a third, saved two break points and levelled the match at 4-all after Swiatek missed a forehand wide.
In the next game, when Swiatek faced a break point, she double-faulted off the top of the net and Pegula served out the first set, prevailing on another Swiatek forehand that sailed wide.
The play faced a suspension of more than an hour due to rain and Swiatek came back firing to take a 3-0 lead and there was no looking back for her from that point. She managed to convert her second set point with a ringing forehand and the match headed into a decider of a third set.
Serving at 2-all in the third set, Swiatek managed to save all three break points against her and broke Pegula to clinch a 4-2 lead. A tired Pegula sent a forehand into the net and with that, Swiatek was sent into her ninth final of the year. (ANI)
