World No.1 Iga Swiatek looks to cap historic season at WTA Finals: Preview

Can Iga Swiatek finish her 2022 tennis season the same way she’s spent much of it: By holding up a trophy?

The world No.1 has captured two major titles this year – at the French and US Opens – in what has been a standout year for the Pole, who has won eight tournaments in total.

She’ll look to finish 2022 off with an exclamation mark at next week’s (31 Oct -7 Nov) WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, where the top eight singles players (and doubles teams) do battle in a round-robin format in hopes of qualifying for the championship rounds.

Not since Serena Williams won 11 trophies in 2013 (and captured three of four majors in 2015) has a single player been so dominant in women's tennis. Swiatek would like to end her season on another high in Texas.

Here, a preview of the action, the stars to watch and how you can tune in from around the world.

Can anyone solve the Iga riddle?

It’s a legitimate question to ask.

The 21-year-old has a 64-8 match record in what is one of the most memorable seasons in the last two decades: her 37-match, six-tournament win streak from late February to early July is something that hadn't been done in women’s tennis since 1997 (Martina Hingis).

The three-time major champ is 24-1 on American soil, and with the WTA Finals in the U.S. for the first time since 2005, she’ll take plenty of confidence from that stat.

Swiatek is a whopping 19-1 this year against the rest of the WTA finalists, her lone loss coming to Caroline Garcia on red clay in Poland just after Wimbledon, in a stretch of the season where she went just 4-4 in eight matches.

Swiatek has had a meteoric rise in the last four years: She was the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 gold medal winner in doubles (with Kaja Juvan) before a stunning run to the French Open trophy in 2020.

Gauff, Pegula carry home hopes

Speaking of the rest of the field, teenager Coco Gauff and her doubles partner Jessica Pegula have built incredibly strong respective 2022 campaigns, Pegula winning her first WTA 1000 just last week in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The duo has also qualified for the elite eight in doubles, as well, with Gauff having reached world No.1 in the doubles rankings earlier this year.

Gauff, 18, and Pegula, 28, are the first pair of Americans ranked inside the world’s Top 4 in singles since Serena and Venus Williams – in 2010.

Gauff is the youngest player to qualify for the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2005, while both she and Pegula will finish the year at guaranteed career-best rankings.

Jabeur aims to flip the script

World No.2 Ons Jabeur is a trailblazer for Tunisian and Arab women in sports – and now a first-name celebrity for that part of the world. But the expressive 28-year-old, armed with an all-court game, would like to write a fairytale ending to her year after a series of “almosts.”

She finished as runner-up at both Wimbledon (to Elena Rybakina) and the US Open (Swiatek), while winning titles in Madrid and Berlin. She is 3-7 overall in her career in finals, but has been outspoken about her desire to be world No.1 in 2023.

Can she get a running start on that goal with a win in Fort Worth?

Sakkari, Garcia and feel-good stories aplenty

The aforementioned Garcia, as well as Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sakkari round out the singles field, which has been split into two groups of four, where each player contests three round-robin matches.

The top four players move into the semi-finals, two from each group.

Sakkari, the Greek star, went through a 4-7 spell at one point this season but won a do-or-die match in Guadalajara last week to secure the final spot at the Finals, while Garcia used a 32-5 run during a similar stretch to produce one of the feel-good stories of the year, returning to this event for the first time in five years.

The Frenchwoman was ranked No.79 in late May. She’s now world No.6.

Kasatkina, a fan favourite, adds another crafty game style to the draw, while the big-hitting, ball-bashing Sabalenka is in search of the biggest title of her career in Fort Worth having yet to win a major.

Garbine Muguruza of Spain ended her season early and won't defend her title in Texas after dropping outside of the top 50 in the singles' rankings.

Doubles: Olympic champs Krejcikova/ Siniakova lead the way

2021 French Open singles champ Barbora Krejcikova had a roller-coaster year on the singles court (it ended on an up) but has been rock steady on the doubles court, where she and fellow Czech player Katerina Siniakova captured three coveted crowns at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

They have now won six Grand Slams in doubles together, while also capturing the gold at Tokyo 2020 in 2021.

Gauff/Pegula will surely have the home crowd support, though no team can be overlooked. The No.2 seeds are Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos.

Krejcikova and Siniakova are the defending champions at the event.

2022 WTA Finals: When and how to watch

Round-robin play gets started on Monday (31 Oct) and goes for six days, to Saturday (5 Nov). Play begins at 3pm local (CT) each day.

The semi-final round is held Sunday (6 Nov), while a special Monday night final (7 Nov) will serve as the culmination of the WTA season.

While Tennis Channel carries the action in the host nation of the U.S., Prime Video is where British fans can find the tennis – as well as beIN in France and Canal+ in Poland.

See a full list of WTA broadcasters here.