The individual table of the WTA Finals starts this Saturday (not before 4:00 p.m., TDP and DAZN) in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) with a duel in the Purple Group between Aryna Sabalenka y Qinwen Zhengreissue of the last Australian Open final. The Belarusian, a big favorite, will try to defend the number one that she took from her just a few years ago. Iga Swiatekcurrent champion of the tournament that brings together the eight best of the year and leader of the Orange Group. The Pole could snatch it away if she repeats her success.
Sabalenka and Swiatek have been the great dominators of the circuit in recent years. They have faced each other 12 times, with a balance of 8-4 in favor of Iga, 4-1 in finals. This same year, they have met three times and the one from Warsaw, who has not competed since the US Open, at the beginning of September, won in the title duels in Madrid and Rome, and lost in the semifinals in Cincinnati. Aryna will keep the throne if she wins all three group stage matches and if she wins two or even just one but reaches the final.
Around 6:00 p.m., on the court of the King Saud University Sports Arena, Jasmine Paolini will face Elena Rybakina, who has hired Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic’s ex, as a coach. Swiatek will play Barbora Krejcikova and Coco Gauff tomorrow against Jessica Pegulain the American duel on the second day of the event that distributes more than 14 million euros in prizes and Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza, winner in 2021, directs for the first time.
The first two of each group will meet (leader of one against second of the other) in the semifinals on Friday the 8th, whose winners will fight for the title in the final on Saturday the 9th. A hypothetical undefeated champion can earn 1,500 ranking points (200 for winning in the group stage, 400 for winning in the semifinals and 500 for also winning in the final).
Kichenok and Ostapenko, favorites in doubles
The Ukrainian Lyudmila Kichenok and the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, number one couple, are the big favorites to become Doubles Masters. They are in the Green Group with Hsieh-Mertens, Melichar Martínez-Perez (they face each other this Saturday from 1:30 p.m.) and Siniakova-Townsend, rivals of Kichenok and Ostapenko at the end of the first day. In the White, which debuts in the Domingo, they star Dabrowski-Routliffe, Errani-Paolini, Dolehide-Krawczyk and Chan-Kudermetova.
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