Aryna Sabalenka beat Jasmine Paolini 6-3 7-5 to improve to 2-0 in the purple round-robin group. Sabalenka becomes the first player to reach the WTA Finals semifinals after winning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 6-3 6-4 in the first match.
Sabalenka raced out to a 4-0 lead with two consecutive matches and finished the first set with a forehand (her seventh winner of the match). The Australian Open and US Open champion build up a 4-2 lead with a break, but Paolini pulled back on serve to draw level to 4-4 and earned two set points on Sabalenka’s serve. Sabalelenka fended off both chances to hold serve and then won the final two games to close out the win.
Sabalenka and Paolini were 2-2 in their previous head-to-head matches. Paolini has raised her level since their last clash in Beijing in 2023. The Italian player won her first WTA 1000 titles in Abu Dhabi and reached two Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She won the Olympic gold medal in the doubles tournament with her friend Sara Errani and moved to a career-high of world number 4 equalling Francesca Schiavone as the highest ranked Italian player in history.
Sabalenka ha won 22 of her past 23 matches. She won three WTA Tour titles in Cincinnati, at the US Open and Wuhan.
If Sabalenka wins one more match this week against Elena Rybakina, or if Iga Swiatek loses a match, she ends the year as the world number 1 player. Swiatek can overtake Sabalenka for number 1 on the year-end rankings by winning the WTA Finals title undefeated and Sabalenka does not win more matches.
Sabalenka will take Elina Rybakina in the third round match.
Paolini is 1-1 in the Purple Group. Zheng Qinwen beat Elena Rybakina in three sets to move to 1-1. Paolini will clash against Zheng on Wednesday. The winner of this match will reach her first semifinal to take on the winner of the Orange Group.
