RIYADH: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka commenced her WTA Finals campaign in Riyadh on Saturday with her fifth victory in as many meetings with the current Olympic champion, China’s Zheng Qinwen, posting a 6-3, 6-4 result.
Facing off for the fifth time in the last 14 months, Sabalenka and Zheng opened the action at the first-ever professional women’s tennis tournament 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, dropping a mere two points behind her first serve throughout the contest.
A runner-up at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas two years ago, Sabalenka is eyeing a maiden trophy at the prestigious season finale, which would also guarantee her the year-end top ranking.
“It’s going to mean everything for me, that’s one of my dreams and I really worked hard in the past years and I really hope that one day I’ll be able to hold this beautiful trophy,” said Sabalenka, 26, on court.
“Qinwen is such a great player and we always had 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.”
Saudi Tennis Federation President Arij Mutabagani, tournament director and former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza, and the highest-ranked African and Arab player in history, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, kicked-off proceedings by welcoming the crowd and the tennis tour to Riyadh in a pre-match opening ceremony.
Very little separated the players in the opening set as both dominated the points behind their first serves, Sabalenka winning 18/19 and Zheng winning 13/16.
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 and she closed out the win on her own serve minutes later.
In a bizarre incident, Sabalenka had to wait at the net for a short 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.
