FORT WORTH, Texas: Tears gathered in Coco Gauff’s eyes as she sat on the WTA Finals sideline during a changeover Thursday night after giving away a lead in what would become a 7-6 (6), 6-3 round-robin loss to Daria Kasatkina that ended the 18-year-old American’s hopes of reaching the semifinals.Gauff, who is ranked No. 4, fell to 0-4 in her debut at the season-ending tournament for the best in women’s tennis — 0-2 in singles and 0-2 in doubles with Jessica Pegula. The Floridian was the youngest participant in both events at the WTA Finals since Anna Kournikova in 1999.Earlier Thursday, top-ranked Iga Swiatek beat Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2 by taking control with an eight-point run that launched a match-ending stretch in which she grabbed nine of 11 games.”Pushed me out of my comfort zone,” Garcia said.Swiatek has won all four sets she’s played so far while dropping a total of just 10 games.”It’s the last tournament of the season, so I have kind of nothing to lose. I don’t have to worry what I’m going to do next,” Swiatek said. “So, yeah, for sure, I’m giving it 100 percent, physically and mentally.”The results mean that Swiatek clinched a semifinal berth and that No. 6 Garcia will face No. 8 Kasatkina on Thursday for the other spot available in their group.
Kasatkina, whose best Grand Slam showing was a semifinal run at the French Open in June, started slowly Thursday, trailing 4-1 against Gauff, who was the runner-up in Paris. But Kasatkina began hitting more shots to Gauff’s forehand, her weaker side, and that paid dividends.Kasatkina quickly accumulated five of six games to lead 6-5; that was the score when Gauff used a white towel to wipe away tears during a changeover. Gauff briefly righted things, breaking to force a tiebreaker that she led 3-0 and 4-2. But after saving Kasatkina’s initial pair of set points, Gauff relented on the third, putting a forehand into the net to close a 24-stroke exchange.Gauff began the day 1-16 this season when ceding the first set, while Kasatkina came in 28-0 when claiming it, and those trends did not change.Swiatek’s victory made her 14-1 against opponents ranked in the top 10 in 2022 — and those 14 wins were all in a row, the longest such single-season unbeaten streak on tour in 15 years.Garcia is the only WTA Finals entrant who managed to defeat Swiatek this year — at the Poland Open in July, when Garcia was ranked just 45th — and the score was 3-all early ThursdayBut Swiatek then raced through the end of that set and went up a break at 2-0 in the second.Swiatek’s topspin-heavy forehand is probably her most dangerous shot, but her backhand was up to the task on this day — producing passing shots when Garcia went to the net or closing lengthier baseline exchanges with winners — and her serve grew stronger as the match wore on, including finishing with a 108 mph ace.This was Swiatek’s tour-high 66th win of the year. The 21-year-old from Poland also leads with eight titles, including at the French Open and US Open.”She was definitely the best this year,” Garcia said. “And she keeps proving it.”