The No.7 seed Aryna Sabalenka stunned World No.1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in their 2-hour and 7-minute semifinal here on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sabalenka prevailed in her tour-leading 28th three-set match of this season to reach her third final of the year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
At the start of the week, Sabalenka called it a "miracle" that she even qualified for the WTA Finals. But now, after a massive semifinal upset, her miracle has extended all the way into the singles final in Fort Worth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sabalenka will now meet No.6 seed, Caroline Garcia, for the WTA Finals singles trophy, which will break their currently deadlocked 2-2 head-to-head. With their semifinal wins, both Sabalenka and Garcia will finish the year inside the Top 5.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former World No.2 Sabalenka won her first meeting with Swiatek a year ago at the 2021 WTA Finals, but since then, Swiatek had the upper hand in their rivalry, winning their four prior encounters this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
However, Sabalenka came close to garnering another win in the US Open semifinals, leading Swiatek by a break in the third set before Swiatek turned that match around en route to the title.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After the win, Sabalenka said, "Overall, I was really calm on the court. The mindset was just I wanted to make her work for it. I didn't want to give her another easy win, like she got (in the) first three wins. That's the mindset I had during this match. I think that's why I wasn't really going for all those winners, all those aces, but I think because of the mindset, I made it a lot."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Swiatek's incredible year comes to a close with a 67-9 win-loss record, and eight singles titles. But her 15-match winning streak against her fellow Top 10 players ended with her loss to Sabalenka.<\/p>\r\n\r\n