iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula will meet in a round-robin match at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, which will be a rematch of last year's final.
Last year, Swiatek and Pegula were the two best players at the WTA Finals. They reached the final, eyeing the trophy in Cancun, Mexico. However, the final proved to be the exact opposite of a hard-fought match, as Swiatek destroyed Pegula 6-1, 6-0 to lift the trophy.
This year, they will meet again, but already in the round-robin stage of the year-end championship. Coming into the tournament, both are in a different situation.
Swiatek has not competed since the US Open, where she lost to no other than Pegula. She parted ways with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and hired a new coach, Wim Fissette, after that.
Because of the new coaching appointment, she chose not to compete at the Wuhan Open, meaning she will come into the tournament in Riyadh without playing a competitive match in almost two months.
Pegula's situation is different. She bested the Pole at Flushing Meadows and reached the final after that. She then competed also at the China Open and Wuhan Open, even though she ended those two tournaments only with two and one win, respectively.
Still, she will come into the tournament in a much better rhythm than her opponent, even though the previously unknown court in Riyadh might even be the playing field.
Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula Head-to-head:
The two have already played 10 matches, and this will be their 11th meeting. Pegula started this mini-rivalry much better, winning their first meeting in Washington back in 2019 when both were relatively unknown players.
Their next meeting then happened three years later, and Swiatek won it in Miami. That started her four-match winning streak, as she won all four matches between them in 2022.
In 2023, however, Pegula was an even opponent for then World No. 1, winning two of their four matches, and she won their only match this year, the aforementioned US Open clash.
That means that while Swiatek leads the H2H 6-5, Pegula won 3 of the last 5 matches that these two played, all of them happening on the hard courts.
| Iga Swiatek | Jessica Pegula | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | H2H | 4 |
| 2 | Rank | 6 |
| 23 | Age | 30 |
| 54-7 | 2024 W/L | 38-13 |
| 335-73 | Career W/L | 433-245 |
Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula Prediction:
With the WTA Finals being played on the hard courts, Pegula certainly has an advantage in this match. If it was played on the clay courts, Swiatek would be an overwhelming favorite, as their 2022 French Open meeting proved (6-3, 6-2).
The big question mark will be Swiatek's tennis. She will arrive in Riyadh without having played for some time and after making a significant change in her team, having worked with Wiktorowski for three years.
Still, Swiatek will be the favorite in this match, and she should also be able to win it, even though Pegula might take it to three sets.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek to win in three sets.
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