Swiatek’s top-10 streak reaches 13; Garcia beats Coco Gauff

FORT WORTH, TEXAS >> No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek performed so well against nearly every opponent all season that it should come as no surprise she’s been perfect when facing the best of the best since early January.

Swiatek extended her winning streak against opponents ranked in the top 10 to 13 matches — the longest such single-season run in 15 years — and opened her bid for a first WTA Finals title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Daria Kasatkina in round-robin play Tuesday night.

Swiatek has asserted herself as a dominant force in women’s tennis, claiming two Grand Slam titles and eight tournament trophies in 2022. Her 65-8 match record leads the tour, too. That includes a 5-0 mark against Kasatkina this year.

“Sometimes, against players like that, there comes a little bit more doubt,” said Swiatek, who will try to make it 14 in a row against top-10 foes when she takes on No. 6 Caroline Garcia, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over 18-year-old American Coco Gauff.

“But then it’s a good thing to remember my strengths, and I’m kind of leaning on that and remembering that I learned a lot throughout this whole season,” said Swiatek, who put together a 24-5 edge in winners against Kasatkina. “I can use that experience and there’s no reason why I would play worse than in practice.”

This one was pretty much over at the outset, when Swiatek raced to a 3-0 edge. She quickly adapted to the indoor hard court set up at Dickies Arena, and that start, she said, “gave me confidence for the rest of the match.”

She is 13-1 against members of the top 10 this year, with the lone loss coming against then-No. 1 Ash Barty on Jan. 8.

Barty’s retirement at age 25 in March allowed Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland, to climb atop the rankings.

No. 4 Gauff, the runnerup to Swiatek at the French Open in June, will now face No. 8 Kasatkina, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in Paris before losing to — yes, you guessed it — Swiatek.

A year ago at the WTA Finals, Swiatek’s debut in the season-closing tournament for the top eight women ended after the group stage. Garcia also has made it to this event just once before: She was eliminated in the semifinals in 2017.