American tennis star Coco Gauff defeated defending champion Iga Swiatek in straight sets at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Tuesday, achieving her second consecutive group-stage win and securing an early place in the semifinals.

In the second-round match of the Orange Group singles, third seed Gauff faced second seed and longtime rival Swiatek. The two had previously met 12 times, with Swiatek winning 11 of those encounters.

Iga Swiatek of Poland hits a return during the round robin match against Coco Gauff of the United States at WTA Finals tennis tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Luo Chen)

Both players held serve until 3-3 in the first set, after which Gauff broke Swiatek's serve twice consecutively to win the set 6-3. In the second set, each player broke serve twice in the first eight games, reaching 4-4. Gauff then held her serve and broke Swiatek's serve once more, winning the set 6-4 and marking her first straight-set victory over Swiatek.

Gauff commented after the match, "Today, it was definitely, like, obviously a good match for me. You know, obviously playing Iga is tough for me, but I'm really happy how I managed to play throughout the match."

In another match, Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova defeated American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour and 9 minutes, bringing her group-stage record to one win and one loss, and keeping her hopes of advancing alive.

In the second round of the doubles White Group, two thrilling comebacks took place. Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe overcame Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 1-6, 7-6(1), 11-9, while Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova defeated Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.

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