WTA Finals Day 4: Order of play (starts 3:00 p.m.)
[2] Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / Giuliana OLMOS (MEX) vs [5] Lyudmyla KICHENOK (UKR) / Jelena OSTAPENKO (LAT)
NB 5:00 PM [1] Iga SWIATEK (POL) vs [6] Caroline GARCIA (FRA)
NB 7:00 PM [4] Coco GAUFF (USA) vs [8] Daria KASATKINA
[4] Veronika KUDERMETOVA / Elise MERTENS (BEL) vs [7] Anna DANILINA (KAZ) / Beatriz HADDAD MAIA (BRA)
The Tracy Austin Group reaches its midway point on Day 4 of the WTA Finals as No.1 seed Iga Swiatek bids for revenge against No.6 seed Caroline Garcia, and No.4 seed Coco Gauff takes on No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina.
Swiatek and Garcia, who enjoyed straight-sets wins over Kasatkina and Gauff respectively on Day 2, both have a chance to seal a semifinal place. Gauff and Kasatkina will be battling to avoid elimination.
If Swiatek and Kasatkina win, Swiatek advances as group winner and Gauff is eliminated (Kasatkina and Garcia would play for the No.2 spot on Saturday).
If Swiatek wins in straight sets and Gauff wins in three sets, Swiatek advances.
If Garcia and Gauff win, Garcia advances as group winner and Kasatkina is eliminated (Gauff and Swiatek would play for the No.2 spot on Saturday).
If Garcia wins in straight sets and Kasatkina wins in three sets, Garcia advances.
Any other combination of results will mean qualification comes down to the final matches.
Head to Head
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[1] Iga Swiatek (POL) vs. [6] Caroline Garcia (FRA)
Head-to-head: 1-1 (Swiatek leads 1-0 on hard courts, Garcia leads 1-0 in 2022)
1. Swiatek will be out for revenge. Swiatek has lost only eight matches in 2022. Three were before the start of her pace-setting 37-match winning streak. Three came in conditions where she was uncomfortable -- on the grass of Wimbledon and the North American hard-court summer swing with lighter tennis balls. Swiatek also fell to Barbora Krejcikova in the final in Ostrava, one of the matches of the year.
But Garcia's 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 upset of Swiatek in the Warsaw quarterfinals in July came on Swiatek's home turf on multiple levels. Not only was the tournament meant to be a triumphant homecoming for the World No.1, but it was Swiatek's only loss on clay of the season.
Road to the WTA Finals: Iga Swiatek | Caroline Garcia
2. Garcia's return will be crucial. The key to the Frenchwoman's win in Warsaw was her willingness to punish Swiatek's second serve, and any first serve that wasn't up to scratch as well. In that match, Swiatek won only 44% of her second-serve points and 55% behind her first serve. Garcia has continued to commit to this strategy in Fort Worth against Gauff, frequently standing well inside the baseline to return the American's first serve and consequently winning nearly half of those return points.
Highlights: Swiatek d. Garcia, R1 Cincinnati 2019 | Garcia d. Swiatek, R2 Warsaw 2022
3. Both players are swinging freely. Swiatek's roughest patch of the year came after Roland Garros, when she took four losses in her next four tournaments (including to Garcia). But she's operating at a high level again, having won 15 of her last 16 matches. Garcia, too, has shrugged off a sequence of early losses following the US Open and, importantly, the sudden end of her coaching partnership with Bertrand Perret ahead of the WTA Finals to deliver a flawless performance against Gauff.
Head to Head
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[4] Coco Gauff (USA) vs. [8] Daria Kasatkina
Head-to-head: Kasatkina leads 2-0 (1-0 on hard courts, 1-0 in 2022)
1. Kasatkina has dealt Gauff two learning experiences. Their first meeting came in Gauff's WTA main-draw debut at Miami 2019. As a 15-year-old wild card ranked No.456, Gauff had defeated Caty McNally in the first round, but in her first encounter with a Top 50 player, fell 6-3, 6-2 to Kasatkina in the second.
Three years on, Kasatkina again had the measure of Gauff in the first round of Stuttgart this year, winning 12 out of 14 games from 4-0 down in the first set to win 6-4, 6-2.
Road to the WTA Finals: Coco Gauff | Daria Kasatkina
2. Both players have their back to the wall -- especially Gauff. Straight-sets losses in their openers got both Gauff and Kasatkina off to a poor start in the round robin. A win here would boost their chances significantly, though it's not a mathematical necessity.
However, history suggests that Gauff's path only gets tougher. She had gone into the Garcia match with a winning head-to-head over the Frenchwoman. Now she faces two opponents she has never beaten. The teenager is 0-12 in sets against Kasatkina and Swiatek combined. Conversely, Kasatkina is 1-1 against Garcia as well as owning her rivalry against Gauff.
Highlights: Kasatkina d. Gauff, R2 Miami 2019 | Kasatkina d. Gauff, R1 Stuttgart 2022
3. The match is an opportunity for flair and footspeed to shine. Gauff and Kasatkina are renowned as two of the quickest movers on tour, and their soft hands are responsible for a significant amount of hot shots throughout each season. The tactical battle between two players with a multitude of shots at their disposal will be absorbing.
In doubles, the Pam Shriver Group continues. The losers of Day 2's opening matches will square off, with No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos facing No.5 seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko. The two teams are 1-1 against each other: Dabrowski and Olmos edged Kichenok and Ostapenko 5-7, 6-1, [10-6] in the Madrid semifinals before the Ukrainian-Latvian pair turned the tables 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the Roland Garros third round.
No.4 seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens will then face No.7 seeds Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia in a first encounter between the two teams.
If Danilina/Haddad Maia win in straight sets, they will advance to the semifinals.
If Danilina/Haddad Maia and Dabrowski/Olmos both win, Danilina/Haddad Maia will advance as group winners and Kichenok/Ostapenko will be eliminated (Dabrowski/Olmos and Kudermetova/Mertens would play for the second spot on Saturday).
If Kudermetova/Mertens and Kichenok/Ostapenko both win, Kudermetova/Mertens will advance as group winners and Dabrowski/Olmos will be eliminated (Danilina
If Dabrowski/Olmos lose in straight sets, they will be eliminated.
Any other combination of results will mean qualification comes down to the final matches.
