RIYADH: Aryna Sabalenka has secured qualification for the semi-finals stage of the WTA Finals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Jasmine Paolini, as Zheng Qinwen ended Elena Rybakina’s chances of moving on in Riyadh on Monday. With two round-robin wins in as many matches this week in Saudi Arabia, Sabalenka guaranteed herself passage to the final four as the winner of the Purple Group.

The Belarusian top seed is also just one victory away from locking down the year-end number one ranking, which she is in a direct battle with Iga Swiatek. Sabalenka bounced back from 0-2 down in the second set, and saved two set points at 4-5 to overcome Italian fourth seed Paolini and has now won 22 of her last 23 matches on tour.

“The second set was quite tricky. Honestly, I just tried to stay aggressive and show her that I’m going to fight for this set no matter what and I’m really happy I was able to win in straight sets,” said Sabalenka. “Halfway through the second set I was already thinking about the third set. But I was like, wait, wait, it’s not the third set until it’s the third set. I’m happy all those shots on set points went in.”

Zheng bounces back

Earlier at King Saud University Indoor Arena, Zheng improved her chances of advancing to the semi-finals with a 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-1 victory over world number five Rybakina. The seventh-seeded Zheng rebounded from her opening round-robin defeat to Sabalenka by claiming her first win from three meetings with Rybakina.

Meanwhile, Rybakina suffered her second defeat of the week in Saudi Arabia, and has no chance of reaching the semi-finals, with one more round-robin clash to go against Sabalenka on Wednesday. Zheng apologized to the crowd during her on-court interview for yelling, ‘Don’t shout more’, at some of her supporters at a crucial moment in the final set.

She thanked them for their support and later acknowledged she could have handled the moment better. “I felt today in such an important moment, when they shout so hard my name, my heart rate goes up. So I hold and hold, until one moment I can’t hold more,” Zheng said during her post-match press conference.

“After I’m feeling a bit bad because if I can control my emotions a bit better, I was supposed not to say that to my crowd.” Zheng arrived in Riyadh on the back of an impressive second half of the season that saw her win titles in Palermo and Tokyo, and an Olympic gold medal in singles in Paris. No woman has won more matches than her within that span.

The first Chinese player to qualify for the WTA Finals since Li Na in 2013, Zheng amassed a 12-2 win-loss record during the Asian swing last month and is the tour leader in most aces struck and percentage of first-serve points won.

Zheng made the first move, breaking Rybakina en route to a 4-1 advantage but her lead was erased as Rybakina attacked her second set to draw level. The set fittingly went to a tiebreak which Zheng sealed on a long forehand from Rybakina on the 58-minute mark. In a pattern similar to the opening set, Zheng carved out a lead in the second frame, only for Rybakina to strike back and even the score. This time though, the 2023 Wimbledon champion took four games in a row, to claim the second set and force a decider.

Zheng shook off early trouble on her serve in the final set before surging ahead 4-1. It was the boost she needed to wrap up the win – the ninth of her career against a top-10 opponent. The Chinese Olympic champion now owns a tour-leading 20 three-set wins in 2024 – the highest tally by a WTA player in a single season since 2016. — AFP