RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Coco Gauff got off to a successful start by beating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2 in an American match at the WTA Finals on Sunday.

Second seed Iga Swiatek rallied to beat Barbora Krejcikova 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in her first match in two months.

Gauff converted five of her eight break chances to win her opening match of the year-end tournament for the top eight players.

“I thought we both played at a high level,” Gauff said. “I just think I managed to break through on the most important points.”

Gauff will face Swiatek on Tuesday, with the winner taking control of the Orange group. Pegula will next face Wimbledon champion Krejcikova.

Swiatek, who arrived at the WTA Finals with a new coach, had not played a single match since losing to Pegula in straight sets in the US Open quarterfinals in September.

“Even though I played a lot of those (practice) matches, I kind of forgot for a while what it’s like to feel all those things, a little bit different stress and emotions,” said Swiatek. “Of course, I needed time to adapt. The most important thing is that even though it happened, I managed to fight through it. And I was patient enough to wait until I got better .

Swiatek came back from 3-0 down in the second set to turn things around against Krejcikova, who was plagued by injuries and had played just 29 matches before the final. Seven of them were Wimbledon victories.

On Saturday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka scored a straight-sets victory over Zheng Qinwen in the opening match of the final in Saudi Arabia. Fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy beat fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina in the other Purple Group match.

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The Associated Press