RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — In a clash of Grand Slam winners, Iga Swiatek swept aside Madison Keys in straight sets on the opening day of the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Saturday.
The Wimbledon champion needed just over an hour to beat Australian Open winner Keys 6-1, 6-2 at the season-ending tournament for the world's top eight players.
“I was in the zone from the beginning to the end, and I really wanted to keep it that way,” said Swiatek, who won 58 of 87 points.
It was Keys' first match in 68 days, since her first-round exit at the U.S. Open. Swiatek, the 2023 WTA Finals champion, acknowledged such a long absence "can make you a bit rusty.”
Playing in the Serena Williams Group, Keys may need to beat Amanda Anisimova and Elena Rybakina to advance.
Rybakina beat Anisimova 6-3. 6-1 Saturday.
The top two from each four-player group advance to the semifinals.
The prize money for the winner is $5.235 million.
In the Stefanie Graf group are Aryna Sabalenka, defending champion Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini.
Sabalenka plays Paolini on Sunday, with Gauff taking on Pegula.
Prize money for the doubles winner is $1.139 million.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Murder for Two Read moreMurder For Two
Much Ado About Nothing: A Modern Verse Translation, tells the timeless and hilarious story o… Read moreMills High School Much Ado About Nothing: A Modern Translation
Cathy Baird said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.