RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Top of ForWorld No.1 Aryna Sabalenka secured her spot in the semi-finals at the WTA Finals Riyadh after defeating No.4 Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 7-5.
China’s Zheng Qinwen beat a struggling Elena Rybakina 7-6(4) 3-6 6-1 in a gruelling WTA Finals group stage match, notching her first career win over the Kazakh in their third meeting.
The top-ranked Sabalenka cruised in the first set after building a 4-0 lead, then saved two set points in the second to advance at the year-ending tournament for the top eight ranked players.
With the win, Sabalenka improved to 2-0 in the Purple Group and, combined with Zheng Qinwen’s victory over Elena Rybakina earlier in the day, ensured her finish as the group winner.
A champion at three of her past four tournaments, winning the Cincinnati Open, US Open and Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open, Sabalenka has now won 22 of her last 23 matches and moves within one round-robin win of securing the year-end World No.1 ranking for the first time.
Sabalenka will face already eliminated Elena Rybakina on Wednesday in the final group match of the week.
Sabalenka has won 22 of her last 23 matches, and three of the last four tournaments in which she played.
Sabalenka and Paolini split their previous four meetings, but Riyadh would be their first showdown in over a year.
Since their last meeting at 2023 Beijing, Paolini has elevated her level and flown up the rankings, thanks in large part to her back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.
Paolini, 28, entered her first WTA Finals — where she qualified in both singles and doubles — ranked at a career-high No.4 in singles, matching Francesca Schiavone as the highest-ranked Italian woman in Hologic WTA Tour history.
Sabalenka overpowered Paolini early, building an insurmountable 4-0 lead to take the first set in 36 minutes, finishing the opening frame with a lighting forehand for her seventh winner of the match.
The reigning Australian Open and US Open champion looked poised to ease through the straight set after building a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Paolini worked her way back.
Playing physical defense from the baseline, Paolini ramped up the rally pressure and Sabalenka blinked.
With Sabalenka rattled and leaking errors, Paolini broke to level the set and earned two set points on Sabalenka’s serve.
The World No.1 stood tall, wiping away both chances to hold serve and then running off the final two games to close out the win and stay perfect in Riyadh.
With the loss, Paolini falls to 1-1 in the Purple Group. After Zheng Qinwen posted a three-set win over Rybakina to also move to 1-1, results set up a win-and-in scenario for tournament debutants Paolini and Zheng.
The two will face off on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to her first WTA Finals semi-final to face the winner of the Orange Group.
In the other Purple Group match, Zheng defeated Rybakina 7-6 (4) 3-6, 6-1 to maintain chances of advancing.
It was Zheng’s first career win over Rybakina in three tries, AP reported.
Rybakina sits at 0-2 and can’t advance to the semifinals. She lost to Paolini on Saturday, while Sabalenka eased to a straight-set victory over Zheng in the opening match in Saudi Arabia.
Marin Cilic returned to winning ways on the ATP Tour with an opening-round triumph at the Belgrade Open.
The 36-year-old saved each of the two break points he faced in a clinical second set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory over Alexandre Muller.
It was Cilic’s first tour-level win of 2024, outside of his run to the title in Hangzhou in September.
“I felt good, but when you haven’t played for a while it’s [important] to find that intensity,” said Cilic, the former No. 3 in the ATP Rankings.
“I needed to find that balance, and it took me a while to get used to the conditions and the balls,” Cilic added according to atptour.com.
“After 30 minutes, I started to feel great on the court, hitting, moving, serving. From there until the end of the match was fantastic, I felt really nice on the court.”
After powering past Muller, the World No. 68, and snapping his four-match losing streak, Cilic will face fourth seed Jiri Lehecka in the second round.
Elsewhere, Dusan Lajovic recorded his first tour-level win since reaching the quarter-finals in Umag in July. The 34-year-old, who has been recovering from an injury sustained at the Davis Cup, surged to a 6-0, 7-6(3) win to upset ninth seed Mariano Navone.
“I didn’t expect this kind of first set,” said Lajovic. “I didn’t think I was going to play until the end of the season. I’m not 100 per cent yet, but I’m good enough to compete. I’m getting my groove back so I am happy to win the match.”
In the second round of his home tournament, the Serbian will take on Fabian Marozsan, who came from behind to defeat #NextGenATP star Shang Juncheng on Sunday.
In a battle of two qualifiers, Denis Shapovalov rallied to move past Marton Fucsovics 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-1.
After levelling the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 2-2, the former World No. 10 has set up a second-round clash against fifth seed Nuno Borges.
