RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka put on a dominant serving display in her opening match at the WTA finals, producing 10 aces in a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 8-ranked Jasmine Paolini on Sunday.
Sabalenka served four aces in the final game of the first set alone and overall put 82.7% of her first serves in play.
The match, which was Sabalenka’s 500th at the WTA level, lasted 70 minutes.
“I was focused, I was calm and it felt like everything was in control,” Sabalenka said.
On Saturday, Sabalenka was presented with a trophy for finishing the year at No. 1.
“I’m super happy and super proud of the work that has been done and that things are working and I’m getting better and better every day,” she said. “And I just hope that we’re going to 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 four-woman groups of round-robin play. The top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals.
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are also in Sabalenka and Paolini’s group.
“I take this tournament as a regular tournament that I have to win five matches if I want to win the title,” Sabalenka said. “So I’m just trying 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 was playing Pegula in an all-American matchup.
Also Saturday, Paolini and partner Sara Errani won their opening doubles match.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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