Aryna Sabalenka defeated
Jasmine Paolini to secure her
second victory at the
WTA Finals. The world No. 1 had to battle against the
Italian, ultimately winning 6-3, 7-5, and guaranteed her place in the
tournament's semifinals. However, she will still need to defend her lead in the
group when she faces the now-eliminated
Elena Rybakina on Wednesday.
As expected, the conditions gave Sabalenka a clear
advantage. She started off strong with her serve, winning 8 of her first 9
service points, and showed impressive returns on both Paolini's first and
second serves.
The Italian struggled to keep up with Sabalenka's power, who was
more aggressive in rallies and dominated from the baseline. The Belarusian
secured two consecutive breaks and jumped to a 4-0 lead. Despite Sabalenka’s strong start, unforced errors began to
creep in, giving Paolini, 28, a couple of break opportunities, allowing her to
recover one break.
As the match progressed, Paolini slowed down her shots and
focused on hitting deep balls to prevent Sabalenka from controlling the rallies
as easily. While Paolini raised her level towards the end of the set, she was
unable to make up the difference, and Sabalenka closed out the set 6-3.
Aryna Sabalenka at 2024 WTA Finals.
True to her fighting spirit, the Italian didn’t give up and
earned an early break in the second set, taking a 2-0 lead. But Paolini’s game
became more erratic at this point, and the world No. 1 seized two consecutive
breaks to move ahead 4-2.
However, Sabalenka looked far from the player who had
defeated
Zheng Qinwen just a few days earlier. Unforced errors, combined with
Paolini's resilience from the baseline, led to a new break for the world No. 4,
who broke Sabalenka again without much difficulty, maintaining her steadiness
at the back of the court and capitalizing on her opponent's mistakes. Sabalenka
saved two set points in the tenth game to level at 5-5.
In the final stretch, the 3-time Grand Slam champion
regained her confidence, and a double fault by Paolini handed Sabalenka the
break she needed to close out the match, which had been a tough fight at times,
with a score of 6-3, 7-5. Sabalenka secured one of the semifinal spots from the
Purple Group but still needs to defend her top position against the eliminated
Elena Rybakina. The second semifinal berth will be decided on Wednesday in the
match between Zheng Qinwen and Jasmine Paolini.