Aryna Sabalenka is the favourite for the title over the next week at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh and has lived up to that billing in her opening win over Qinwen Zheng in Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps the tie of the opening weekend, it pitted Sabalenka who is the World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion this year alone against Qinwen Zheng who continues to excel and get better. She has been perhaps the player of the last month and has lost only four times since Wimbledon.
Make that five after a 6-3, 6-4 win in favour of Sabalenka. She is also 5-0 up in their respective head to head and the Belarusian excelled in the quick conditions.
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Sabalenka took the opening set 6-3 in a superb opening foray. What was mooted to be the difference would be the first serve percentage in the case of Qinwen Zheng and it went well in favour of the World No.1.
She won 94% of her first serves with 10 winners to 11 unforced errors compared to 6 and 10 from her opponent. While Qinwen only won 77% of her first serves. The difference was a break with Sabalenka going 4-2 up sealing break point and dominating from there.
She won 31/33 points on her first serve overall and in the second set did not give Qinwen a chance to excel on either side of the net. She broke at 5-4 to head towards the finishing line and claimed it from there with the Chinese ace so bamboozled that she didn't know she'd lost the match.
Sabalenka now plays the winner of the second match which sees Elena Rybakina face Jasmine Paolini shortly. Qinwen Zheng will of course regroup and go again and will still be one of the favourites to reach the semi-finals. But Sabalenka proving already that she is perhaps too good.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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