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Coco Gauff of the US celebrates winning her quarter final match against Poland’s Magda Linette
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World numbet 3 Coco Gauff and number 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland won their respective opening matches of the Orange Group at the WTA Finals Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Gauff posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 6 Jessica Pegula, while Swiatek rallied from a first-set misstep to notch a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
Gauff and Swiatek will square off on Tuesday, with the winner taking control of the Orange Group. Swiatek holds a commanding 11-1 head-to-head record against Gauff.
Gauff held a 16-8 edge in winners and converted five of her eight break points to end the match in 75 minutes.
“I thought we both were playing high level,” Gauff said. “I just think I was able to break through on the more important points.”
Swiatek, in turn, struggled in her first match in two months, falling in the first set and trailing 3-0 in the second before she flipped the switch.
“Even though I played a lot of those (practice) matches,” Swiatek said. “I kind of forgot for a while how it is to feel all those things, a bit different stress and emotions.
For sure, I needed some time to adapt. The most important thing was that even though it happened, I managed to fight through that. And was patient enough to wait to get better.”
