World number two Iga Swiatek overcame a shaky start to defeat Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets Monday in her opening WTA Finals game in Cancun.
Polish star Swiatek looked out of sorts in an error-strewn first set in which she trailed 2-5 before roaring back to clinch a 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 victory.
The 22-year-old four-time Grand Slam champion from Warsaw is bidding to reclaim her world number one tennis ranking from Aryna Sabalenka at this week's season-ending finals in Mexico.
However that goal looked unlikely during a nervy opening from Swiatek, who was broken in her first service game before seventh seed Vondrousova held for a 2-0 lead.
Swiatek managed to claw the break back in the fourth game to square the first set at 2-2 but then fell to pieces as Vondrousova broke for a 3-2 lead and then held to go 4-2 up.
Another shaky service game from Swiatek ended in a break of serve to leave Vondrousova in the driving seat at 5-2.
But Vondrousova's game collapsed thereafter, and Swiatek broke back twice in quick succession to level the set at 5-5 before holding for 6-5.
Although Vondrousova steadied the ship to hold serve and set up a tie-break, it was only a temporary reprieve.
Swiatek quickly took control of the breaker and clinched the set when Vondrousova double-faulted.
Vondrousova's service game went into meltdown in the second set, with Swiatek breaking her three times in a row.
Another Vondrousova double-fault left Swiatek 5-0 up, and the Pole sealed victory on her serve in the final game.
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