Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Aryna Sabalenka has clinched her spot in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals with a straight-sets win over Jasmine Paolini, while Zheng Qinwen dashed Elena Rybakina’s hopes of advancing in Riyadh on Monday.
Sabalenka, the tournament’s top seed, triumphed 6-3, 7-5 over Italy’s Paolini, marking her second win in as many matches this week. This victory secured Sabalenka’s place as the Purple Group leader, putting her within one match of confirming her year-end No. 1 world ranking in a heated competition with Iga Swiatek.
Sabalenka rallied after falling behind 0-2 in the second set and staved off two set points when down 4-5, extending her win streak to 22 of her last 23 matches.
“The second set was quite tricky,” Sabalenka reflected. “Honestly, I just tried to stay aggressive and show her that I’m going to fight for this set no matter what. I’m really happy I was able to win in straight sets.”
She admitted nearly conceding to the idea of a third set before reminding herself to stay focused. “Halfway through the second set I was already thinking about the third set. But I was like, wait, wait, it’s not the third set until it’s the third set,” she added, expressing relief that her shots found their mark.
Meanwhile, Zheng revived her semi-final chances with a 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-1 victory over fifth-ranked Rybakina at the King Saud University Indoor Arena. Zheng’s gritty win over Rybakina, her first from three encounters, saw her respond to an opening-round loss to Sabalenka.
Rybakina, who fell in two matches this week, is now out of semi-final contention, with one final round-robin match left against Sabalenka on Wednesday.
During the third set, Zheng apologized for telling her enthusiastic fans, “Don’t shout more,” at a high-stakes moment, admitting her emotions got the better of her.
“I felt today in such an important moment, when they shout so hard my name, my heart rate goes up,” Zheng explained later. “So I hold and hold, until one moment I can’t hold more.” She acknowledged, “If I can control my emotions a bit better, I was supposed not to say that to my crowd.”
Zheng has had a standout season, securing titles in Palermo and Tokyo and winning an Olympic gold in Paris. She leads the tour with her aces and first-serve points and entered Riyadh as the first Chinese woman to qualify for the WTA Finals since Li Na in 2013. Her win on Monday brought her 2024 record in three-set matches to 20 victories—the highest since 2016.
In her battle against Rybakina, Zheng made an early push, breaking to lead 4-1 before Rybakina fought back, taking the opening set to a tiebreak that Zheng claimed after 58 minutes. The second set saw Rybakina reverse her fortunes, winning four straight games to level the match and push it to a third set.
Zheng kept her cool under pressure in the decider, holding her serve and capitalizing on her advantage to claim her ninth top-10 victory of the season.
With her semi-final hopes revived, Zheng is one of the year’s most formidable players, riding high on a second-half surge that has seen her dominate the Asian circuit with a 12-2 record.
