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, putting in a total of 82.7% 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.
“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.”
In the same group, Jessica Pegula defeated defending champion Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2 in an all-American match.
Gauff again struggled with her serve, hitting seventeen double faults, including one to hand the first set to Pegula, her former doubles partner.
Before finally pulling out the tiebreaker, Gauff twice failed to serve out the second set. On her second chance, she hit three consecutive double faults, allowing Pegula to break her again and force a tiebreak.
Three weeks ago, Gauff defeated Pegula in the final of the Wuhan Open in China.
“Coco is a great champion, a great competitor and a great friend, so it’s always hard to play against her,” Pegula said. “I don’t think there are any secrets with this group of girls here.”
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina won their opening matches on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Paolini and partner Sara Errani won their opening doubles match.
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