Iga Swiatek erased a 5-2 first set deficit and ultimately rolled to a 7-6(3), 6-0 win over Marketa Vondrousova in the Pole's first match of the group stage of the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun on Monday.
After struggling to find her rhythm early on against the big-hitting lefty, Swiatek crushed an overhead to set up a break point, which she converted on her opponent's backhand error to cut the deficit to 5-3 and seize the momentum.
Vondrousova served for the set a second time at 5-4 but Swiatek broke again with a precise backhand winner up the line for 5-5 as she began to take control of the match, constructing points from the baseline and cutting down on her errors.
Swiatek completed the first set comeback on a double fault and a disillusioned Vondrousova went quietly in the second set.
Although she defended her title at the French Open for her fourth Grand Slam title, 2023 has been something of a disappointment for Swiatek, who did not get past the quarters of any of the other majors and lost her world No. 1 ranking.
She came into her third WTA Finals with a ton of momentum, however, after winning her first WTA 1000 title of the season in Beijing, and has a chance to retake the top spot from Aryna Sabalenka in Cancun.
Vondrousova, who made her top-10 debut after emerging as the surprise winner of Wimbledon, is making her first appearance at the season-ending Finals, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world.
