WTA Finals: Aryna Sabalenka holds off Jasmine Paolini for semifinal qualification in gritty showdow

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.

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.