In the final of the WTA Finals women’s singles tournament in Cancun, Mexico, Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek defeated Jessica Pegula of the USA 6:1, 6:0 and returned to No. 1 in the world ranking.

Both Swiatek and Pegula were undefeated at the WTA Finals in Cancun before the final. The Pole won against Czech Marketa Vondrousova, American Coco Gauff and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the group stage, before proving superior to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. The American beat Jelena Rybakina, Sabalenka and Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the group stage, while in the semi-final she won against Gauff, who is her doubles partner.

For her victory in Cancun, the Polish tennis player received 1,500 points and moved back to first place in the latest ranking. Sabalenka dropped to second place and Coco Gauff finished the season in third.

In Cancun, Iga Swiatek also received the highest financial bonus of her career to date. After the WTA Finals tournament, she will receive just over USD 3 million into her account.

‘I would like to thank the Polish fans for supporting me here. All the time I feel more and more support in all parts of the world, also from fans from other countries’, said the Polish tennis player after the victory.

‘The weirdest thing is that these things come when you least expect them, because I knew that Aryna Sabalenka was having such a good season, she had won one Slam, was in the final of another and had such results that I knew she just deserved to be number one. I just wanted to do my job and even for me it’s a bit abstract that I won that number one at the end of the year’, said Iga Swiatek in an interview.

Year 2023 was another excellent season performed by Iga Swiatek. The Pole won six tournaments, including the Grand Slam Roland Garros, the 1000-ranked tournament in Beijing, as well as tournaments in Doha, Stuttgart, Warsaw and finally the WTA Finals ‘tournament of champions’.

Adrian Andrzejewski