Aryna Sabalenka has begun her quest for a maiden WTA Finals title by brushing aside China’s Qinwen Zheng in straight sets in her opening match.
The world No.1 powered her way to a 6-3, 6-4, victory at the multi-million dollar event which is being staged in Saudi Arabia for the first time in history. It is the 10th time Sabalenka has beaten a top 10 player on the Tour this season and it is the 39th time she has done so in her career. Against Zheng, she won 94% of her first service points and produced 14 winners. She now leads her Chinese rival 5-0 in their head-to-head.
“She’s such a great player and we always have a great battle against each other,” Sabalenka said of her opponent.
“She’s playing really aggressive tennis. She kind of like forced me to step in to go for it. I guess that’s why I bring tennis my best tennis and I’m super happy with the win, especially against her. She’s such a tough opponent.”
With little to distinguish between both players early on in the match, Sabalenka struck for the first time in the sixth game of her clash. A double fault followed by a forehand error from Zheng handed the top seed her first break for a 4-2 lead. In the lead, she closed out the first set in just under 40 minutes with a love service game.
Utilizing the speedy court conditions in Ridyah to her advantage, Sabalenka continued to dominate behind her serve in the second frame but couldn’t pull away from a fearless Zheng. A player who defeated Iga Swiatek en route to the Olympic title earlier this season. She clinched her second break of the match with the help of a lackluster Zheng service game to move to a game from victory and then closed the match out with a serve out wide that was returned out.
“I think I served well tonight and I put her under so much pressure on her serve. My serve helped me tonight.” Said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka is bidding to seal the year-end No.1 spot at the WTA Finals. It is possible that she could do this in the group stages if she wins all three of her round-robin matches. If she doesn’t, Iga Swiatek is still in with a shot of doing so but the Pole must win the title to have a chance.
“It would mean everything for me and that’s one of my dreams,” the Belarussian commented on potentially winning the WTA Finals.
“I really worked hard in the past years since the very beginning of my career. I really hope one day I’ll be able to hold this beautiful trophy.”
Sabalenka will play Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina later in the week. Only the top two of each group will progress to the knockout stages.
