Coco Gauff, currently ranked world number three, has expressed hope that the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia could “open doors” and pave the way for women’s progress and positive change in the conservative kingdom.
After Serena Williams, who won the WTA Finals at age 33 in 2014, the 29-year-old from Lyon became the oldest champion with her victory on Monday night.
Trailing by a set, French tennis player Caroline Garcia returned to her usual best and won a memorable match, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) in 80 minutes against Russian Daria Kasatkina and advanced to the semifinals in the WTA Finals here on Sunday.
Kasatkina returned to the Top 10 this summer for the first time since January 2019, posting a new career high of No.9 on August 8.
Barty decided to do more and will give her Brisbane winnings -- potentially USD 250,000 -- to the Red Cross.
Their head-to-head coming into the match was equally split, with four wins each in eight meetings, and the Romanian having won their two most recent clashes at Wimbledon and in Doha.
Elina Svitolina dominated the second set from the word go and broke Karolina Pliskova in the very first game to eventually win first match of WTA Finals.
"I'll always be part of the game of tennis," she said.
The 27-year-old World No.6 took one hour and three minutes to beat Halep 6-0, 6-2
"I don't know if there was any luck for me tonight -- I just had to work for every point," Williams said.
