Aryna Sabalenka to beat Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff to WTA Finals title? Our predictions

Oli Dickson Jefford 01 Nov 2024 10:28 AM

Pictured L-R: WTA tennis players Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff.

WTA Finals contenders Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff.

After a dramatic, brutal, and sometimes contentious WTA season, the WTA Finals looks to bring the 2024 season to a thrilling close.

The field is an incredibly strong run and there are several key storylines to follow, most notably the world No 1 battle between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

Sabalenka looks to end the season as the year-end No 1 for the first time, while Swiatek will look to defend her title and deny her Belarusian rival for the second straight year.

Elsewhere, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula fly the American flag, Zheng Qinwen and Jasmine Paolini make their event debuts – while Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova look to recapture their best form.

Ahead of the Finals, we make our tournament predictions.

Purple Group

Players: (1) Aryna Sabalenka, (4) Jasmine Paolini, (5) Elena Rybakina, (7) Zheng Qinwen

There is no denying that Sabalenka is a warm favourite for the title in Riyadh after what has been a stunning second half of the season.

US Open, Cincinnati, and Wuhan Open titles have cemented her place as the world No 1 and as the WTA’s leading hard-court player, and the draw gods have also been fairly kind to her here.

Her most difficult test may be her opening match against Qinwen, who has also been flying in the second half of the season – and took a set off Sabalenka for the first time in Wuhan.

However, she has yet to beat the top seed, and it is hard to predict anything other than Sabalenka winning all three of her group matches.

The battle for second will be more interesting, particularly concerning Rybakina.

Realistically, no one knows what to expect from the Kazakh after her disrupted season half of the season, and it is hard to know how she will fare in three very different match-ups on offer to her.

Based on the current momentum between her, Paolini, and Qinwen, it is the seventh seed who has the edge.

Group prediction: Sabalenka 1st, Qinwen 2nd

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Orange Group

Players: (2) Iga Swiatek, (3) Coco Gauff, (6) Jessica Pegula, (8) Barbora Krejcikova

Swiatek is another who is a little bit of an unknown quantity heading into this tournament, having not played since her US Open quarter-final exit to Pegula.

However, under the guidance of new coach Wim Fissette, the Pole has been handed a fairly solid draw to start her title defence.

She is 11-1 against third seed Gauff, while Wimbledon champion Krejcikova – who has tested her before – comes in having lost most of her momentum from her surprise SW19 triumph.

The biggest test for her perhaps will be a rematch against Pegula, who she thrashed in the final 12 months ago.

Pegula’s summer form has cooled off slightly but she is always a factor on hard courts, and her impressive performance against the world No 2 in New York shows she is a significant factor here.

The all-American battle between her and former doubles partner Gauff could prove key in the outcome of this group, and it is the older of the two has had the better of their rivalry so far.

Group prediction: Pegula 1st, Swiatek 2nd