Thursday marks the final day of the WTA Finals group stage. While Iga Swiatek’s dominant game against Daria Kasatkina was not surprising, her precarious position in the tournament is shocking to some tennis fans.

Kasatkina was given the difficult task of filling in for Jessica Pegula at the last moment after the number six was ruled out with a knee injury. Swiatek easily defeated Kasatkina in straight sets: 6:1, 6:0.

Swiatek was unable to avenge her US Open quarterfinal loss to Pegula, triggering a series of events that included a two-month layoff and a sudden coaching change. But she looked dominant in her third match since September.

Swiatek defeated Kasatkina in 53 minutes to improve to 2-1 in the round-robin style group stage of the WTA Finals. However, Swiatek is not yet sure of a place in the semi-finals.

Coco Gauff defeated Swiatek in straight sets on Tuesday, and now Swiatek needs Gauff’s help moving forward. If Gauff loses today against Barbora Krejcikova, Swiatek will be eliminated from the tournament.

So far, Gauff is 2-0 in the WTA finals, with impressive wins over Pegula and Swiatek. However, Gauff has only met Krejcikova once so far, and that was a defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2021 French Open. Of course, three years is a long story in tennis, and Gauff is the clear favorite in today’s match.

Swiatek cannot finish higher than second place in the WTA year-end rankings. However, she can still repeat as WTA Finals winner. With Gauff’s help, things are just beginning today. Should Swiatek advance to the knockout rounds, she will need to continue playing at a high level to pull off the incredible comeback.

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