{"id":115048,"date":"2023-10-31T08:28:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T08:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/31\/wta-finals-coco-gauff-sweeps-past-ons-jabeur-while-iga-swiatek-makes-winning-start\/"},"modified":"2023-10-31T08:28:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T08:28:02","slug":"wta-finals-coco-gauff-sweeps-past-ons-jabeur-while-iga-swiatek-makes-winning-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/10\/31\/wta-finals-coco-gauff-sweeps-past-ons-jabeur-while-iga-swiatek-makes-winning-start\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Finals: Coco Gauff sweeps past Ons Jabeur while Iga Swiatek makes winning start"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gauff is the first teenager to win 50 or more matches in a single season since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009
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US Open champion Coco Gauff needed just 57 minutes to beat Ons Jabeur in her opening match at the WTA Finals.<\/p>\n

Gauff, 19, who is seeded third, won the first seven games before an hour-long rain delay in Cancun, Mexico.<\/p>\n

When play resumed, the American quickly wrapped up a 6-0 6-1 victory for her 50th win of the season.<\/p>\n

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In the other Group B game, Iga Swiatek came back from 5-2 down in the opening set to defeat Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (7-3) 6-0.<\/p>\n

The Pole, who is aiming to regain her world number one ranking from Aryna Sabalenka, struggled early on.<\/p>\n

Czech Vondrousova, who is appearing at the season-ending Finals for the first time, twice served for the first set but Swiatek took control of the match and her opponent was unable to respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the first part of the match I wasn\u2019t feeling like I was playing bad,\u201d said Swiatek. \u201cI just felt like I was making mistakes on the last shots within the rally. I felt that there was room for improvement, but I didn\u2019t need to change a lot. So I just wanted to be more precise and more solid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WTA Finals sees the world\u2019s eight best players this season split into two groups of four. After the round-robin matches, the top two in each group move through to Sunday\u2019s semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Gauff is playing in her first tournament since parting company with coach Pere Riba after the recent China Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, it wasn\u2019t my decision,\u201d said the teenager. \u201cBut we had to end the partnership. If it was up to me, I would have loved to have him here. But you know, things happen. Life happens. So no bad terms on our end.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes people think it\u2019s bigger than what it is. But some things just didn\u2019t work out and that\u2019s all. I still think that he was a great guy. And obviously, he did amazing things for me personally and also for my game. So I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to be successful in his next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gauff and Swiatek will face each other on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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