(Cancun) U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff committed four double faults in a row while serving for the second set, losing 6-0, 7-5 to Iga Swiatek in the preliminary tournament of the Finals of the WTA, Wednesday.
Gauff led 4-2 in the second set, then 5-4, one game away from forcing an extra set.
The young woman from Florida built a 15-0 lead, then committed the decisive series of double faults. After the fourth, Gauff threw his racket to the ground, before picking it up and throwing it towards his bench.
That streak was at the heart of nine straight losses to Swiatek, who improved to 9-1 against Gauff.
Gauff had thrown his racket the first time after a failed backhand return during a one-sided first set.
It was the 22e set won 6-0 by Swiatek this year. The 22-year-old Pole was ranked number 1 in the world for almost a year and a half before Aryna Sabalenka overtook her at the US Open in September.
Swiatek is the first woman to win at least 20 games without conceding in two consecutive seasons since Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, who both accomplished the feat in 1991 and 1992.
Swiatek won two preliminary round matches in the Finals, while Gauff boasts a 1-1 record.
PHOTO ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ons Jabeur
In the other singles match on Wednesday, Ons Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, defeated Marketa Vondrousova, Wimbledon champion this year, in two sets of 6-4, 6-3.
Swiatek (2-0) will face Jabeur (1-1) on Friday, while Gauff (1-1) will face Vondrousova (0-2). Two of them will advance to the semi-finals.
Dabrowski in doubles semi-final
PHOTO ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski at the Zhengzhou tournament in October
Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe reached the doubles semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Laura Siegemund and Russia’s Vera Zvonareva.
Seeded number 7, Dabrowski and Routliffe got the better of the sixth seeds.
It was a replay of the last women’s doubles final at the U.S. Open, which Dabrowski and Routliffe won 7-6 (9), 6-3.
Dabrowski and Routliffe earned a break to take a 4-3 lead in the first set.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Dabrovski withstood two break points before winning.
Dabrowski and Routliffe took control 5-2 in the second set, en route to a victory in an hour and a half.
The semi-finalists started the tournament by winning 7-6 (2), 6-3 against the favorites, the Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.
Routliffe grew up in Ontario and previously represented Canada, before switching to his native New Zealand.
She and Dabrowski meet fourth-seeded Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.