Undefeated Sabalenka soars into semis

Aryna Sabalenka polished off an unbeaten group series at the WTA Finals on Thursday, posting a 7-6 (5), 6-2 over Coco Gauff to assure herself a place in the business end of the season wrapup.

Jessica Pegula also posted a win in Saudi as she defeated Jasmine Paolini.

Sabalenka pounced on Gauff’s dicey serving, converting on five of six break chances while the American double-faulted six times – an improvement from the 17 she struck in her opening match here,

US Open champion Sabalenka’s win earned revenge for her defeat six months ago at Roland Garros to Gauff.  

Sabalenka will be eager to break her record of never winning the Finals title as she plays the event for a fifth consecutive edition. She finished runner-up in 2022 to Caroline Garcia of France.

In the other match, Pegula advanced in 63 minutes over Paolini, who was eliminated earlier in the week from semi-final contention.

“I finally got a straight sets win for the first time in a few months,” Pegula said.

“That always feels really good, but I thought I served really well and just played solid today. 

“I was aggressive when I needed to be. There wasn’t much negative today.”

The American won a match in two sets for the first time since defeating Ajla Tomljanovic September’s Beijing second round well over a month ago.

She reached the final four thanks to the Gauff loss to Sabalenka in the complicated group scenario at the eight-player event.