World number one Aryna Sabalenka moved to the verge of the semi-finals at the WTA Finals in Riyadh with a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over Jessica Pegula on Tuesday, while defending champion Coco Gauff delivered a dominant performance to defeat Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 and knock the Italian out of the tournament.
Sabalenka, who now has two consecutive wins in the round-robin Group Steffi Graf, battled through an intense contest against the American. “Jessica is an incredible player. She always pushes me to the limit,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion. “I was thinking I’m going to go after my shots, stay aggressive, put all of that speed back on her and hope that I get my chance.”
The Belarusian took the opening set after breaking Pegula’s serve at 5-4 with a powerful forehand, but the world number five hit back strongly in the second, capitalising on Sabalenka’s 13 unforced errors to level the match. Pegula broke early in the deciding set, but Sabalenka responded with two successive breaks to seize control and close out the victory.
Earlier in the evening, Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, was clinical in her straight-sets win over Paolini. The 21-year-old, who made 17 double faults in her opening defeat to Pegula, committed only three this time as she raced to a commanding lead. Gauff broke twice in the opening set and maintained her dominance with precise cross-court hitting and relentless movement that forced Paolini into errors.
The world number three broke twice more in the second set and sealed the win with a strong serve that Paolini could only return into the net. The defeat confirmed Paolini’s exit from the competition after two straight losses.
“I knew today’s win was important to keep myself in the tournament. If I lost, I would have been out,” said Gauff.
With one win each, Gauff and Pegula remain in contention for a place in the last four, while Sabalenka needs just one more result to secure qualification. In Wednesday’s Group Serena Williams matches, world number two Iga Swiatek will face Amanda Anisimova, and Elena Rybakina will take on Madison Keys.
