WTA Finals: Sabalenka defeats Zheng to move closer to clinching year-end No 1 crown

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka prevailed v Zheng Qinwen, 6-3, 6-4 in a match which was dominated by the serve of both players, only seeing one break in each set – both to the advantage of the Belarusian.

It was Zheng who managed to see the first break point, during a close 1-1 game, however, Sabalenka used her precise serving to survive it, before breaking her opponent for a 4-2 lead. From there, both held with relative ease, with the defending Australian and US Open champion holding out her serve to love to clinch the set 6-3.

In the second set, neither player made many inroads in their return games, with the first break point of the set not appearing until 4-4, with Sabalenka converting on the second time of asking. The world No 1 didn’t look back, and served out the match 6-4 in the second.

Overall, although the match as a whole was serve-dominated, it was Sabalenka who had a healthier first serve percentage of 69 percent, compared to a disappointing 43 percent for Zheng. Likewise, the higher ranked player hit ten winners to the Chinese’s six.

Eyes on the prize

Sabalenka spoke after the victory, and stated:

“I think I served really well tonight, and I put her under so much pressure on her serve, so my serve definitely helped me tonight.”

She was also asked what it would mean to her to win the title in Riyadh:

“It would mean everything to me, it’s one of my dreams, and I’ve really worked hard over the last few years, and I really hope one day that I can lift that beautiful trophy.”

Year-end NO 1 IN SIGHT FOR SABALENKA

The victory puts her closer to not only qualifying for the semi-finals at the event – rankings below -, but also to ending the season as the year-end No 1. Each round-robin match victory is worth 200 points, which means she is now 1,256 points ahead of world No 2 Iga Swiatek.

Sabalenka can secure the year-end No 1, regardless of Swiatek’s performance at the WTA Finals, if:

• She wins her other two round-round matches OR
• She loses both of her other two round-robin matches, but makes final OR
• She wins one more match, losing the other, but makes the final

PURPLE GROUP RESULTS

Below are the standings in the Purple group, with the top two players advancing to the semi-finals:

• Aryna Sabalenka – 1 win/ 0 losses
• Jasmine Paolini – 1 win/ 0 losses
• Elena Rybakina – 0 wins/ 1 loss
• Zheng Qinwen – 0 wins/ 1 loss

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