Aryna Sabalenka closes in on major rankings milestone at WTA Finals
Aryna Sabalenka is one win away from sealing the year-end No 1 ranking after maintaining an unbeaten start to her WTA Finals campaign.
Reigning Australian and US Open champion Sabalenka rallied from a break down in the second set and saved two set points to defeat fourth seed Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday.
That was a second straight-sets win in as many matches for the world No 1 – who defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4 to kickstart her campaign on Sunday – though it certainly was not easy.
“I would say that overall the whole match was a tough match. She’s [Paolini] such a great player,” said Sabalenka in her on-court interview
“She was putting so much pressure [on me] and serving well, moving great. She’s a great player and I’m super happy with this win.
“The second set was quite tricky. Honestly, I don’t know – I was just trying to show her that I was going to fight for this set no matter what. I’m really happy to close this match in straight sets.”
Two opening victories mean that the 26-year-old is in the driving seat to seal year-end No 1 – with Iga Swiatek’s hopes of returning to the top spot fading.
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Rankings scenarios
Sabalenka will be ensured of year-end No 1 if she beats Elena Rybakina on Thursday, no matter how she then fares throughout the knockout stages of the tournament.
However, even if she is beaten by the former Wimbledon champion, it is still very much in her hands.
Sabalenka has now qualified for the semi-finals and any result that sees her reach the final – regardless of her group stage record – will secure the year-end No 1 ranking.
Swiatek still has a slight chance to usurp Sabalenka, just as she did 12 months ago.
Last season in Cancun the Pole stormed to the title without dropping a set, a result that saw her knock Sabalenka off the top spot.
However, it is more difficult for her in Riyadh.
Firstly, the Pole now has to win the title without losing a match; she has already picked up an opening win against Barbora Krejcikova.
However, she will also need Sabalenka to not win another match this tournament.
The Belarusian will need to lose her match against Rybakina and then lose her semi-final to give the world No 2 any chance of sitting atop the WTA Rankings at the beginning of the new season.
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