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Swiatek came out firing in their group stage
match and broke the U.S. Open champion for a second time with a
lovely looping crosscourt winner to take a 4-0 lead.
Two games later, the second-seeded Pole pounced on a poor drop
shot from the American teenager and blasted a backhand past her
to capture the one-sided first set.
Gauff raised her level early in the second, winning three
straight games for a 3-1 advantage and coming out on top of a
marathon service game 4-2.
But the four-time major champion would not back down, holding at
love and then breaking back on Gauff's badly missed forehand
into the net for 4-4.
From there Gauff began to unravel.
She threw her racket against the court in frustration after four
straight double faults while serving for the set at 5-4 and
appeared on the verge of tears in the next game, where she
whiffed on a return of serve en route to a love hold.
Swiatek improved her lifetime tally to 9-1 against Gauff when
the third seed's overhead landed in the net on match for her
31st unforced error of the contest.
The evening group stage match saw a rematch of the Wimbledon
final as sixth seed Ons Jabeur got back at the grand slam winner
Vondrousova with a straight set win.
The first set had a competitive start with both players locked
2-2, until Jabeur swung the momentum in her favor by breaking
Vondrousova's serve.
The former world number two took just short of an hour to win
the first set and about half that to clinch the second, ending
her three-match losing streak against Vondrousova with a
commanding victory.
It was Jabeur's first win in the group after Monday's loss to
Gauff, leaving both of them with one win each as Swiatek holds
the top spot with two victories.
Vondrousova is at the bottom after two losses in the group.
All four players in the group can reach the semi-finals as
Friday's fixtures pit Swiatek against Jabeur and Gauff against
Vondrousova in the last round of the group stage.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Michael
Perry)
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