Then there were four! Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff clinched the last three semi-finals of the 2023 WTA Year-End Finals with contrasting wins tickets.
World number one Sabalenka overcame rain, wind and Elena Rybakina to advance to the semi-finals with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory. Gauff also defeated Marketa Vondrousova 5-7, 6-7 (4-7) and 6-3, while Swiatek only lost three games, 6-1, 6 -2 defeated Ons Jabeur.
They will join Jessica Pegula in the semifinals and the schedule is as follows:
As the undefeated champion of the Bacalar group, Pegula will face Gauff, while Swiatek, the winner of the Chetumal group, will face Sabalenka. This is actually a penalty shootout for the world’s number one. If Sabalenka wins the tournament, Swiatek will no longer be number one at the end of the year.
But according to OptaAce, the latest match at the WTA Finals has revealed some great statistics (@OptaAce).
– Only four players have won more than 50 matches in the WTA main draw this year, and all four of them reached the semi-finals. Swiatek leads the way with 66 wins, Pegula has 56 wins, Sabalenka has 55 wins and Gauff has 51 wins.
– World No. 1 (Sabalenka) and World No. 2 (Svatek) will meet for the fourth time in the past 40 years in the semifinals of the WTA Year-End Finals. Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Pliskova were the last pair in 2019 to do so. They were preceded by Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in 2012, and Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva in 2010.
4 – The world’s No. 1 (Sabalenka) and World No. 2 (Sviatek) will face off for the fourth time on SF at the WTA Year-End Finals, following Wozniacki-Zvonareva. (2010), Azarenka-Sharapova (2012), the fourth time in the past 40 years. and Barty-Pliskova (2019). exhibit.#WTAF grand finals | @WTA @WTAF Finals @WTA_insider
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) November 4, 2023
– For the first time since 2013-2014, the world’s number one has reached the semi-finals of the WTA Year-End Finals in two consecutive seasons (both times it was Serena Williams). Swiatek entered the semi-finals last year as the world’s number one, and Sabalenka entered the semi-finals this year.
– Swiatek lost only 14 games en route to the semifinals. Justine Henin holds the record for the fewest losses in the group stage since the new format began in 2003, losing just 11 games in 2007, while Swiatek lost 13 last year.
– Swiatek, 22, is the youngest player to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals in consecutive seasons since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009-2010.
– U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff, 19, is the first teenager since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009 to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Finals.
– Gauff (51) is the first American teenager to win more than 50 matches in a WTA season since Venus Williams in 1999.
Gauff and Pegula will compete in the U.S. semifinals of the WTA Year-End Finals for the first time since Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati faced off in 2002.
READ MORE: Jessica Pegula remains undefeated at WTA Finals and confirms big news about Coco Gauff partnership