WTA Finals: Iga Swiatek rallies to beat Barbora Krejcikova in three sets, Coco Gauff eases past Jessica Pegula

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Iga Swiatek claimed a confidence-boosting three-set win over reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova to make a winning start to the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Swiatek is fighting to reclaim the top spot in the WTA rankings and recovered following a nervous start to seal a hard-fought win over the Czech. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff powered past Jessica Pegula in straight sets.

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Iga Swiatek boosted her hopes of reclaiming the world No. 1 spot after recovering from a set and two breaks down to beat Barbora Krejcikova in her WTA Finals opener.

The Pole prevailed after two hours and 35 minutes of play in Riyadh, winning 4-6 7-5 6-2, making an ideal start to a competition she needs to win in order to stand any chance of reclaiming the top spot in the WTA rankings.

Aryna Sabalenka moved back to the top of the rankings last month when Swiatek was docked points for missing tournaments.

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Should Sabalenka advance from her group, even winning the title would not be enough for Swiatek to finish as year-end world No. 1.

This was the 23-year-old's first match since her straight-sets defeat to Jessica Pegula in the US Open quarter-finals on September 5.

That lack of match practice was evident in a sobering start to the match, but she kick-started her revival at 3-0 down in the second set to seal an impressive comeback.

“Even though I played a lot of those [practice] matches, I kind of forgot for a while how it is to feel all those things, a bit different stress and emotions,” she said in quotes published by wtatennis.com.

"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.”

Swiatek admitted to feeling "a little bit rusty" in the opening exchanges of the contest, before finding her rhythm in the second set.

She would win 13 of the final 17 games to seal victory, and broke the Czech's serve three times in a dominant final set.

“Honestly, I just focused on getting the balls in," Swiatek said. "I needed to focus on the easy stuff. My main goal was just to be solid.

“I’m happy that I won because at the beginning I felt a little bit rusty.”

Gauff powers past Pegula

Swiatek will face Coco Gauff in her second round-robin match, and the American started off her tournament with a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 win over Pegula.

As reported by the WTA Tour, it marked the 20th career top-10 win for the 20-year-old, who got the job done in one hour and 16 minutes.

She broke Pegula's serve five times across the two sets, for a dominant success.

Speaking after her victory, she said: "I thought we both were playing at a high level. I just think I was able to break through on the more important points."

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