Iga Swiatek climbed out of a deep early hole against Marketa Vondrousova at the WTA Finals and then pulled away by dominating the second set for a 7-6 (3), 6-0 victory in round-robin action Monday, then both women added their voices to the chorus of complaints about the playing conditions.
“For sure,” Swiatek said, “it’s not comfortable.”
U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff was scheduled to face three-time major runner-up Ons Jabeur in the other singles match on Day 2.
Swiatek, who won the French Open in June for her third Grand Slam title, is ranked No. 2 and has a chance to overtake Aryna Sabalenka at No. 1, depending on their results at the season-ending championships.
Sabalenka is also among the players who have said the temporary outdoor hard court built for the event is not satisfactory. Vondrousova called it “honestly very bad.”
The WTA said the court meets its standards.
The left-handed Vondrousova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, broke in three of Swiatek’s initial four service games en route to a 5-2 edge at the outset. Swiatek had trouble finding her range on the temporary outdoor hard court that has drawn criticism from some players at the event: She was responsible for 13 of the match’s first 16 unforced errors.
Vondrousova served for that set at 5-2 and 5-4, but Swiatek began turning things around and grabbed 13 of 17 points in one stretch. What became a four-game run put Swiatek ahead 6-5.
“I just wanted to be more precise and more solid and not play risky,” Swiatek said.
At 3-all in the tiebreaker, Swiatek took over for good. She smacked a big forehand winner, collected a service winner and hit her first ace of the evening to get to set point, before Vondrousova double-faulted to end it.
That set took 64 minutes. The second lasted just 35, with Swiatek holding a 27-9 edge in points.
“She was playing amazing,” Vondrousova said, “and there was nothing much to do.”
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