World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka secured her spot in the semi-finals at the WTA Finals after defeating Jasmine Paolini in the Purple Group on Monday.

Sabalenka defeated the Italian 6-3 7-5 to improve to 2-0 and, combined with Qinwen Zheng’s victory over Elena Rybakina earlier in the day, ensured that she will finish as the group winner.

Top seed Sabalenka has now won 22 of her last 23 matches and moves within one round-robin win of securing the year-end No 1 ranking for the first time.

In addition, if Iga Swiatek loses to Coco Gauff on Tuesday, Sabalenka will clinch the year-end No 1 ranking.

Sabalenka will face Rybakina on Wednesday in the final group match of the week, where a 3-0 record would seal the top spot.

“The whole match was tough. She’s such a great player, putting so much pressure, moving well, serving great,” said Sabalenka during her on-court interview.

“I’m super happy with this win tonight and the second set was quite tricky. I was just trying to stay aggressive and show her I’m going to fight for this set no matter what.

“I’m really happy to close this out in straight sets.”

After Sabalenka, who only took over from Iga Swiatek at the top of the WTA rankings last month, recovered from being broken midway through the first set to clinch it by a 6-3 score, she built up a healthy advantage at the start of the second.

French Open and Wimbledon runner-up Paolini showed off her trademark fighting skills, though, and got the match back on serve.

Paolini even had set point on Sabalenka’s serve at 5-4, but the three-time Grand Slam champion dug deep to hold and win the next two games to seal victory with a service winner.

“I would say I am really proud of not only myself but my team that we overcome a lot of things and we were able to show such great tennis and become world No 1,” added Sabalenka.

“It is team work, it is not only me. The behind-the-scenes work nobody sees, but they do a lot for me and I really appreciate everything they do for me.

“This is motivation for me to keep winning on this court because those guys deserve to be the best team ever.”

Tale of the Tape

Purple Group

Henman: Sabalenka never gave in

“It’s much more about adversity when you’re not playing so well,” Tim Henman told Sky Sports Tennis.

“All of a sudden Paolini came back into that second set. She had those set points but Sabalenka had that competitive spirit and mentality of refusing of not giving in.”

Robson: You can’t pick apart her game

“This time last year in Cancun [WTA Finals] she had some wobbles and wasn’t able to respond quite so well,” said Laura Robson.

“But just in the last three months from Cincinnati onwards you can hardly pick apart her game.”

Zheng overcomes Rybakina

Rybakina, beleaguered by insomnia, allergies and injuries, had played only four matches since Wimbledon in mid-July and fatigue played a part as Chinese Olympic gold medallist Zheng recorded her first career win over the 25-year-old in three attempts, winning 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-1 in a rollercoaster battle.

“I’m really happy to win this match because I’d never beat her before and she’s one of the greatest players right now on tour,” Zheng said.

“Even though I had a chance in the second set and didn’t take it, I’m happy I came back in the third set and stayed focused.”

The win puts seventh seed Zheng (1-1) in contention for a semi-final spot when she plays Paolini on Wednesday, while the 25-year-old Kazakh is now 0-2 with one round-robin match remaining against Sabalenka.

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis on Tuesday?

Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek collide in a pivotal match in the Orange Group with the American looking to overcome the Pole having lost 11 of 12 matches against her.

Former US Open champion Gauff has won 10 of 11 matches, including a title in Beijing and a semi-final appearance in Wuhan.

Jessica Pegula takes on Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second match of the day with both players fighting for survival, with both facing potential elimination.

• WTA Finals Riyadh – (November 2-9)
• Belgrade Open – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
• Moselle Open, Metz – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
• Nitto ATP Finals, Turin – (November 10-17)

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