World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-3, 7-5 on Monday to improve to 2-0 at the WTA Finals Riyadh and guarantee herself a spot in the semifinals in Saudi Arabia.
Sabalenka opened the tournament Saturday with a straight-sets victory over China’s Qinwen Zheng in the Purple Group. Zheng, the No. 7 seed, bounced back Monday by beating No. 5 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-1.
Sabalenka would not only guarantee the top knockout seed out of the Purple Group if she beats Rybakina on Wednesday, she would also lock up the year-end World No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career.
The 26-year-old won the Australian Open and U.S. Open this year and is vying for her first career WTA Finals title.
“I’m proud of myself. Not only myself, my team,” Sabalenka said after her win. “We were able to overcome a lot of things. To be able to show such great tennis and become World No. 1, It’s teamwork. It’s not only me.
“Nobody sees the behind-the-scenes work. But they do a lot for me. I really appreciate them for everything they do for me. This is motivation for me to keep winning on this court. Those guys deserve to be called the best team ever.”
Sabalenka raced out to a 4-0 lead against Paolini and needed just 36 minutes to wrap up the first set. She fell into a 2-0 hole in the second set when Paolini broke her serve in the second game, but Sabalenka ripped off four games in a row. Paolini pushed ahead one more time and led 5-4 when Sabalenka won the final three games to finish the job in 90 minutes.
By the end of the match, she out-aced Paolini 5-0 and prevailed despite committing more unforced errors (19) than winners (17).
Zheng, meanwhile, won 39 of 49 (80 percent) of her first-serve points and hit 25 winners on her way to defeating Rybakina in a close match.
Zheng lamented that it took her three sets to finish the job after winning a break point early in the first and second sets.
“I was the one to make the first break, and then I let her back in the first,” Zheng said. “Then it happened again in second. But in the third set I talked to myself. I broke her first and I stayed focused. Finally in the third set I start to play my tennis again.”
Rybakina put up a fight, hitting eight aces with just one double fault and saving 9 of 13 break points. But she has been eliminated from contention for the knockout round.
–Field Level Media
