TNT Sports
Iga Swiatek overcomes Donna Vekic in San Diego Open final to win eighth title of 2022 season
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Published 17/10/2022 at 10:00 GMT+1
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek continued her fantastic season with victory in the San Diego Open final. Swiatek beat Donna Vekic to secure her eighth title of 2022 and extend her lead at the top of the WTA world rankings. Vekic had beaten Danielle Collins in their rain-delayed semi-final earlier in the day but couldn't overcome Swiatek, who will next play the season-ending WTA Finals.
Swiatek: I'll be thinking about 2022 season for rest of my life
Video credit: TNT Sports
Iga Swiatek beat Donna Vekic in three sets in the San Diego Open final to win her eighth title of the season.
The world No. 1 came through 6-3 3-6 6-0 against world No. 47 Vekic, who was playing her second match of the day after her semi-final was postponed overnight.
Swiatek now has 64 wins in 2022 and has passed 10,000 ranking points.
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"I think this is going to be the season that I'm going to be thinking of for the rest of my life," said the Pole.
"But on the other hand, I would love to have seasons like that in the future. So I guess the best way to do that is not really focusing on what happened, but focusing on what's next. And I still know that I have many things to improve, so I'm looking forward to it."
Vekic’s preparation for her first final in three years was not ideal as a rain delay on Saturday meant her semi-final against Danielle Collins was postponed.
But Vekic rallied from 4-2 behind in the third set on Sunday to beat Collins, securing her fourth straight victory over a top-25 player at the tournament after coming through qualifying.
Swiatek made the first move in the final, breaking in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.
She closed out the set with two holds, but Vekic hit back in the second set with a brilliant forehand winner earning her a break.
That was the only break point of the set as Vekic levelled proceedings.
However, Swiatek took charge in the decider, finding her range on both wings and powering into the lead. She sealed victory in one hour and 47 minutes with her 21st bagel of the season after a double fault from Vekic.
"It was a really tight match and pretty long," said Swiatek.
"We felt the intensity for sure. At the end I wanted to be the one who played the last ball in.
"I wanted to go all in. Knowing how well she can serve, I just wanted to be more loosened up on my return games - not think too much, use my intuition and fight for every ball."
Swiatek will next play the WTA Finals in Forth Worth, Texas later this month.
She is not playing the final WTA 1000 of the season this week in Guadalajara, where world No. 8 Paula Badosa is the top seed.
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