Iga Swiatek of Poland dropped only one game in less than an hour to beat American Jessica Pegula and regain the world No. 1 ranking with her first ever WTA Finals title on Monday.
Swiatek, 22, won the final 6-1, 6-0 to round up this campaign with her sixth title of the season and her 17th overall, and overtook Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to top the tally since her 75-week run as world No. 1 was halted at the U.S. Open in September, overcoming the setback in a bumpier season than the last when she enjoyed a 37-straight-win that secured her first year-ending No. 1 ranking way ahead of the Finals.
Iga Swiatek wins the WTA Finals singles title in Cancun, Mexico, November 6, 2023. /CFP
"The team that's been with me the whole season, we had many ups and downs. This is for sure an up. We will for sure have many more if we keep working like that," said Swiatek, who did not drop a single set in Cancun.
The three-time French Open champion downed champions of the other Grand Slams this year en route to Monday's championship match, including Australian Open winner Sabalenka, U.S. Open's home favorite Coco Gauff, and Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
"I would say I wasn't expecting that right now, this season. I was hoping that maybe next year is gonna be my year, but it seems like you know, just working hard and focusing on the right things at the end worked. So I'm really happy," she added.
Swiatek and Pegula went into the final with a 2-2 head-to-head record this year, but it only remained so at 1-1 early in the first set, after which Swiatek rushed to a 6-1 victory in only 27 minutes and showed no mercy in the second.
"She clearly really wanted that ranking. I mean, you could tell by the way she was competing here. ... She was, like today, crushing people," Pegula said.
Meanwhile, Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia won the doubles title after outclassing Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the U.S. and Ellen Perez of Australia 6-4, 6-4.