WTA Finals Preview and Tip: Gauff can continue to surprise at 11/8

• Orange group round-up - opening wins for Swiatek and Gauff

• Swiatek shaky performance

• Gauff has a shot in fast conditions at 11/8

Iga Swiatek staged a comeback in her first match in Riyadh, looking down and out at a set and double break down to Barbora Krejcikova.

It had been a nightmare start to the tournament for the five time Grand Slam champion as she looked all at sea navigating the speedy conditions.

Krejcikova had not done a great deal to amass such a lead as she did little more than keep the ball in play, and keep her serve ticking over. Swiatek in response was slapping shots everywhere but between the lines of the court and was losing her cool as the match started to drift away from her.

Swiatek rescue act

To Swiatek's credit she started to find her range just in time and went on a strong run to win 13 of the final 17 games. Swiatek was hyper aggressive and Krejcikova, who entered the tournament with doubts over form and fitness, had little to resist.

Swiatek's serve was working well, but the conditions do look quicker than what can be considered comfortable for her game.

The Polish player's solution is to go all out attack and on that occasion it worked.

Gauff's strong start

Later on in the day Coco Gauff produced a highly impressive showing to defeat Jess Pegula, a player that has had her number on quicker surfaces.

Gauff showed an unexpected control and resilience in her ground game, rarely looking rushed or pressured by Pegula's probing flat strikes in quick conditions. Pegula was nullified by the consistent quality from Gauff on the other side of the net.

Pegula was frustrated with her form on the day, but Gauff deserves praise for finding an answer to the flat-hitting formula that has typically blown her away in these conditions.

Lucky 13 for Gauff?

One of the most remarkable records in tennis is the head to head dominance that Swiatek enjoys over Gauff. Of their 12 matches, Gauff has won only one and has failed to win a set in any of her defeats.

Why then do I think Gauff has a chance here?

Gauff looks to be in a good place and recent changes to her game are looking effective. She has a fresh solution to limit the self-sabotage elements of her serve, which leaked only two double faults against Pegula despite her opponent's aggressive footing.

There was control to her game and Pegula did not look the better player at any stage, quickly running out of ideas against Gauff.

Swiatek has always been able to hit through Gauff on neutral and slower surfaces. The Pole has had a huge advantage in forehand to forehand rallies. Yet, this quicker surface is one where players must adjust their regular formula, and based on how each played in the first round it is Gauff who looks better adapted.

It appears Swiatek is just going to hammer the ball for better or worse, and while that is one way to play this match it does not seem like a sustainable nor feasible plan to win this title. I was much more impressed by the control in Gauff's game, which was certainly closer to her A-game than that shown by Iga.

Gauff gave a similarly high appraisal of her first round performance saying, "Overall I think I'm just happy with how I played. At some times it was sloppy, at some times it was great, but you know, that's tennis, and I thought we both [Pegula] were playing high level."

Pegula has reportedly been playing very well in practice and conditions in Riyadh are very much to her liking. She praised Gauff for her confident, good form.

If Gauff can repeat that performance then this looks a good spot for her to gain a rare win over Iga. At 11/82.38 Gauff can get the win.

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