RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka put on a dominant display in her opening match at the WTA finals, producing 10 aces in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 8 ranked Jasmine Paolini on Sunday.
Sabalenka served four aces in the final game of the first set alone, putting in a total of 82.7 percent of her first serves.
The match, which was Sabalenka’s 500th at WTA level, lasted 70 minutes.
“I was focused, I was calm and it felt like everything was under control,” Sabalenka said.
On Saturday, Sabalenka received a trophy for finishing the year at number 1.
“I’m super happy and super proud of the work that’s been done and that things are working and I’m getting better and better every day,” she said. “And I just hope that we keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully we can stay there.”
The season-ending tournament for the year’s top eight players starts with two round-robin groups of four women. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are also in Sabalenka and Paolini’s group.
“I consider this tournament as a regular tournament, where I have to win five matches if I want to win the title,” Sabalenka said. “So I just try to bring my best tennis and fight for every point.”
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina won their opening matches on Saturday.
Later, defending champion Gauff played Pegula in an all-American match.
Also on Saturday, Paolini and partner Sara Errani won their opening doubles match.
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