TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS – Markéta Vondroušová (24) lost her second match 0:2 in sets at the premiere of the Tournament of Champions, and in Cancun, Mexico, she blamed the crazy quality of the court and the strong wind. The Tunisian Ons Jabeurová (29) lost 4:6, 3:6 in the replay of the Wimbledon final, but she still has a theoretical chance to advance to the semifinals before the last duel in the group against the American Coco Gauff (19). The previous win of Polish Iga Šwiateková (22) against Gauff gave her hope.
Vondroušová – Jabeurová 4:6, 3:6
Markéta Vondroušová she missed more than half of last season due to wrist surgery and at the end of it she played in smaller ITF or WTA 125k tournaments.
Only twelve months later, the twenty-four-year-old native of Sokolov is making her debut at the prestigious Tournament of Champions. Although she only made it past the quarter-finals twice during 2023, she showed steady performances throughout the season, made history as the winner of Wimbledon and secured a start at the event for the most successful players of the past season.
In Cancun, Mexico, however, he is still waiting for his first victory and the set won. After world No. 2 Iza Šwiateková, she did not even succeed against the seventh player in the world Ons Jabeursthe Tunisian beat her 6:4, 6:4, ‘revenge’ for three defeats this year, including the one in the Wimbledon final, and equalized the mutual balance at 4:4.
Turning the tables @ons_jabeur avenges this year’s Wimbledon final by defeating Vondrousova 6-4, 6-3 in Cancun.#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/UiYe8I3QnB
— wta (@WTA) November 2, 2023
While in her first appearance against Šwiateková, she did not maintain a 5:2 lead with two back-to-back breaks, she struggled in vain against the Tunisian from the beginning and never took the lead by a single game.
Vondroušová did not start the duel in the best way in the strong wind and lost two of the three opening games on service. At 2:3 and 0:15, she sprained her ankle on her right leg. Although she continued without restrictions, she was unable to break her opponent again. In the ninth game, the Czech tennis player averted three set points, but immediately after Jabeurová’s serve, she did not use a break point and the Tunisian won the set in her favor.
Also at the beginning of the second set, Vondroušová erased the 0:2 deficit, but she still could not rely on the serve. Starting at 3:3, coach Jan Hernych’s client lost the remaining three games and Jabeurová converted the second match point on the Czech tennis player’s serve. Vondroušová also paid for 11 double faults in the match.
“It’s terrible, it’s crazy. The court is really crazy and the wind was too. I’m glad it’s over and I can go away,” Vondroušová told Radiožurnál Sport. “I’m healthy, but it’s really scary. I’m glad that I have the last match and we’re going away.” she added.
Hope for progress lives on
In the final match of the group, Chetumal Vondroušová meets Coco Gauffová. She would have to go 2-0 in sets to keep hope alive and hope Jabeur loses by the same margin to Poland’s Iga Šwiatek and has the best win-loss ratio of Jabeur and Gauff.
“The chances of advancing are small. I’ll play it out somehow. I’ll try to win. But it’s quite difficult here. We’ll see,” added Vondroušová.
At 29 years old, the second oldest participant in this year’s singles competition, Jabeurová is playing at the Tournament of Champions for the second time. Last year she was eliminated with a 1:2 balance in the group, now she has a chance to fight for the premier semi-final after the win over Vondroušová.
“I’m very happy to win, but lately I can’t be very happy. The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy. I can’t be happy just because of the win, seeing what’s going on. I’m sorry, but it’s very frustrating to watch the videos every day . It’s not a political message, just humanity. I just want peace in this world.” said Jabeur in an emotional post-match interview in response to the war conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Šwiateková – Gauffová 6:0, 7:5
Even the undefeated former world number one and four-time Grand Slam champion Šwiatekováwho also gave the second opponent a canary and still did not lose a set, does not have a 100% sure progress.
On Wednesday, a 22-year-old Polish woman dealt with an American woman three years younger Gauff 6:0, 7:5 and she won the ninth out of ten matches.
A statement victory @iga_swiatek gets past Gauff and is still unbeaten in the Chetumal Group!#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/z9i7I1xFk9
— wta (@WTA) November 1, 2023
The winner of this year’s Roland Garros, Šwiateková, started against Gauffová the way she ended in the opening duel with Vondroušová – a canary. In the second set, the American tied the game and had the advantage of a break twice. However, Gauff was unable to finish the set. At 5:4 and 15:0, she made four double faults, lost the lead, and by the end of the match had won only one fifth.
“Coco is the type of player who doesn’t give up. So I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. The key is to focus on myself and be consistent in what I’m doing. Anyway, the conditions at the end were very tricky. I’m happy that I survived and I didn’t risk too much,” commented Iga Šwiateková on the windy conditions after her win over Coco Gauffová.
Šwiateková boosted her confidence before the Tournament of Champions with her triumph in Beijing and has now extended her unbeaten streak to eight matches. This year, she has already given her opponents 22 canaries and won 58 of the 59 matches in which she won the first set. At the same time, he has a chance to end the season at the position of world number one.
The total subsidy of the tournament amounts to nine million dollars (over 211 million crowns), the undefeated winner can add over three million to her account. The tournament is played on a hard surface, with the final taking place on Sunday, November 5.
Results of the Masters Tournament in Cancun
Article originally published for Livesport News.
2023-11-02 11:03:20
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