World No. 3 Coco Gauff defeats No. 2 Iga Świątek, clinches semis berth at WTA Finals

The GIST: The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals (the last tournament of the WTA Tour) is underway, with two standout players already clinching their spot in the semis and a stacked doubleheader on deck this morning. Now that’s a serve.

The context: Outside of tennis’ four majors (the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), the WTA Finals is the most important tournament for pro women’s players, with only the top eight singles and doubles competitors in the world fighting for record-setting prize money.

• This year, in the face of lengthy human rights and sportswashing concerns from women’s tennis athletes, the event is taking place in Saudi Arabia (SA), disregarding the country’s historic persecution of feminists, atheists, and LGBTQIA+ citizens.

• Despite backlash, SA’s influence in tennis is growing across the women’s and men’s game.

• In February, SA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) reached a five-year sponsorship deal with the ATP (men’s tennis’ governing body) that includes naming rights for their ranking system, before reaching a similar deal with the WTA in May.

How the WTA Finals work: Transitioning to the on-court action, the tourney’s eight singles players were drawn into two groups of four for the ongoing group stage, which is round-robin style. The top two players in each group advance to Friday’s semis, and the two semis winners face off in Saturday’s final.

The recap: World No. 3 Coco Gauff defeated No. 2 Iga Świątek yesterday for just the second time in 13 attempts, clinching a semis spot. Świątek’s loss also ensures that Aryna Sabalenka will finish the year as No. 1, which isn’t a surprise given Sabalenka’s won 22 of her last 23 matches.

• Like Gauff, Sabalenka has already locked in her semis appearance, but Świątek and No. 4 Jasmine Paolini are among the big names looking to join them. Stay tuned.