• Aryna Sabalenka defeated Iga Swiatek in their two hours and seven minute semifinal matchup
• Sabalenka won her tour-leading 28th three-set match of the year
• Swiatek and Maria Sakkari both had 3-0 records after the round-robin round of the competition

Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 7 seed, defeated World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in their two hours and seven minute semifinal matchup on Sunday.

To advance to her third final of the year, Sabalenka won her tour-leading 28th three-set match of the year.

Sabalenka referred to her qualification for the WTA Finals as a “miracle” at the beginning of the week. Her miracle has now, however, continued all the way into the singles final in Fort Worth following a significant semifinal shock.

Sabalenka will now play Caroline Garcia, the No. 6 seed, for the WTA Finals singles championship, ending their tie at 2-2 in head-to-head matches. Sabalenka and Garcia will both end the year inside the Top 5 thanks to their victories in the semifinals.

Sabalenka, the former World No. 2, defeated Swiatek in their first match at the 2021 WTA Finals a year ago, but Swiatek has since dominated their rivalry, winning all four of their previous meetings this year.

Sabalenka was ahead of Swiatek by a break in the third set of their semifinal match at the US Open, but Swiatek turned the match around and ultimately won.

Sabalenka commented following the victory, “Overall, I was really calm on the court. The mindset was just I wanted to make her work for it. I didn’t want to give her another easy win, like she got (in the) first three wins. That’s the mindset I had during this match. I think that’s why I wasn’t really going for all those winners, all those aces, but I think because of the mindset, I made it a lot.” With an astounding 67-9 win-loss record and eight singles trophies, Swiatek caps off an unbelievable year. But with her loss to Sabalenka, her 15-match winning streak against other Top 10 players came to a stop.

Swiatek and Maria Sakkari both had 3-0 records after the round-robin round of the competition, however neither advanced to this week’s final. The last time a player with a 3-0 round-robin record missed the WTA Finals championship match came in 2015, when Garbie Muguruza and Maria Sharapova both lost in the semifinals despite being unbeaten.

[embedpost slug=”iga-swiatek-criticizes-tennis-tournaments-risky-scheduling/”]