Sabalenka's dominance over Zheng continues in Riyadh

RIYADH — World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka commenced her WTA Finals campaign in Riyadh on Saturday with a fifth victory in as many meetings against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China, racing to a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Facing off for the fifth time in 14 months, Sabalenka and Zheng opened the action at the first ever professional women's tennis tournament held in Saudi Arabia in front of a near capacity crowd at King Saud University Indoor Arena.

The Belarusian top seed needed just one hour and 24 minutes to defeat Zheng, merely dropping two points behind her first serve throughout the contest.

A runner-up at the WTA Finals in Texas two years ago, Sabalenka is eyeing a maiden trophy at the prestigious season finale, which would also guarantee her the year-end No 1 ranking.

"It's going to mean everything for me, it's one of my dreams, I have really worked hard over the past few years, and I really hope that one day I'll be able to hold this beautiful trophy," said 26-year-old Sabalenka on court.

"Qinwen is such a great player, and we always have great battles against each other. She's playing really aggressive tennis. I'm super happy with the win, especially against such a tough opponent.

"I think I served really well today and I put her under so much pressure on her serve. So, I think my serve helped me tonight."

Very little separated the players in the opening set, as both dominated the points behind their first serves, Sabalenka winning 18 of 19 and Zheng winning 13 of 16.

But, it was the second serve where Sabalenka found an edge, and after she saved a break point in the third game, the top seed broke for a 4-2 advantage and sealed a one-set lead in 39 minutes.

With Chinese supporters representing the majority of the crowd and rallying behind their Olympic hero, Zheng was near clinical through the first eight games of the second set.

But Sabalenka upped the ante in game nine, converting her second break point opportunity to inch ahead, closing out the win on her own serve minutes later.

In a bizarre incident, Sabalenka had to wait at the net for a moment before Zheng realized she had actually lost the match.

Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, has now won her last seven consecutive matches against top-10 opposition.

Zheng acknowledges there are things she must improve ahead of her next group match, but was happy she could finally face Sabalenka like a "usual opponent". "So it was positive things for me," she said.

'Not concerned'

The world No 7 had her right thigh taped during the match, and revealed she felt pain in her leg two days ago.

"For the moment, I'm not that concerned, but we'll see how it goes in the next two matches," said the 22-year-old.

After her match, Sabalenka got to meet Brazil soccer ace Neymar, who performed the coin toss for the next clash between Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina.

Neymar, who plays for Saudi club Al-Hilal, gifted Sabalenka a signed jersey and took pictures with her, before returning to the stadium to catch the rest of the action.

"It's cool, right? He watched my match and it's a pleasure that such big players come to watch me play. I was super happy to see him," said Sabalenka.

WTA Finals debutante Paolini claimed her third win in five encounters with Rybakina with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 performance.

Paolini, who also beat Rybakina in the French Open quarterfinals in the summer, is at a career-high ranking of No 4 after reaching the finals in Paris and Wimbledon.

"It's amazing, I'm really happy with the win today. All are tough matches here, and Elena is playing unbelievably. It's good to see her back on tour," said Paolini.

Rybakina, who has dealt with insomnia, allergies and a back injury in recent months, was playing her first match since she withdrew ahead of the US Open second round 10 weeks ago.

AFP