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The WTA conceded this year's edition of the
Finals was "not a perfect event", with the court condition and
stormy weather among the issues affecting players. Sabalenka
said she did not feel safe playing on the court.
"The conditions that were kind of tricky also helped me to just,
you know, focus on adjust my footwork, my shots ... that kept me
busy from thinking about all of that," Swiatek told reporters of
the number one ranking on Monday.
"So I think today was ... just being narrow with your head, only
thinking about the right stuff."
The 22-year-old Pole said she had been distracted by the ranking
race at other tournaments and it had affected her performance.
"It played (in my mind) a lot in the US Open and the tournaments
before but I kind of learned my lesson," she said.
"This time I didn't want it to have an impact on me ... it's
hard not to think about stuff like that but actually when I went
on court I knew that I had to focus on different things."
Cancun was named as venue for the $9 million WTA Finals, which
brings together the top eight singles players and doubles
partnerships to conclude the season, less than two months before
it started on Oct. 29.
The tournament was supposed to conclude on Nov. 5 but rain and
high winds meant the semi-final between Swiatek and Sabalenka
was not completed until that day, with the final shunted to
Monday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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