عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Sabalenka, Swiatek Lead First Set of Qualifiers for WTA Finals

Champion Coco Gauff (L) of the United States and runner-up Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus pose for a photo following their Women's Singles Final match of the 2023 US Open on September 09, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
Champion Coco Gauff (L) of the United States and runner-up Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus pose for a photo following their Women's Singles Final match of the 2023 US Open on September 09, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Sabalenka, Swiatek Lead First Set of Qualifiers for WTA Finals

Champion Coco Gauff (L) of the United States and runner-up Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus pose for a photo following their Women's Singles Final match of the 2023 US Open on September 09, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
Champion Coco Gauff (L) of the United States and runner-up Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus pose for a photo following their Women's Singles Final match of the 2023 US Open on September 09, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)

World number one Aryna Sabalenka will make her third consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, as the governing body of women's tennis announced its first set of qualifiers for the season finale.

The tournament, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world, will return to Mexico after a gap of one year. The 2021 edition took place in Guadalajara.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka will be joined by four-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, whom she leapfrogged to claim the top ranking for the first time after the US Open earlier this month, the WTA announced on Friday.

The 25-year-old Belarusian is enjoying her best season on the WTA Tour with three titles and three more finals, including one at Flushing Meadows. She will look to improve on her runner-up finish at last year's WTA Finals in Fort Worth.

US Open champion Coco Gauff booked her place in both the singles and doubles competitions. The 19-year-old will partner fellow American Jessica Pegula.

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina rounded off the initial set of entrants for the tournament as she became the first player from Kazakhstan to qualify in singles.

The WTA Finals run from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Gauff Building Momentum in Wuhan, US Open Finalist Pegula Out

Coco Gauff of the USA hits a return to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk during their women's singles match at the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, China's Hubei province on October 10, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
Coco Gauff of the USA hits a return to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk during their women's singles match at the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, China's Hubei province on October 10, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
TT
TT

Gauff Building Momentum in Wuhan, US Open Finalist Pegula Out

Coco Gauff of the USA hits a return to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk during their women's singles match at the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, China's Hubei province on October 10, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
Coco Gauff of the USA hits a return to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk during their women's singles match at the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, China's Hubei province on October 10, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk in just over an hour on Thursday.
It was the fourth-ranked Gauff's eighth consecutive win on the WTA Tour's Asian swing after the American won the China Open last week which moved her back into the top five in the rankings.
Gauff fired two aces and broke the Ukrainian's serve five times — for the loss of one of her own — as she clinched a one-sided match and extended her lead in their head-to-head series to 3-1.
“I’m really happy with how I played today,” Gauff said. “It was a pretty straightforward match. Marta and I always have some good battles. Today I was able to get through in straight sets.”
Next for Gauff is No. 45-ranked Magda Linette, who continued her impressive form this week by beating eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3, The Associated Press reported.
“Yeah, so she’s a tough opponent,” Gauff said of Linette. "We haven’t played since (the US Open in 2021). I really don’t know what to expect. But just from watching her play, she’s been playing a great couple of matches here in Wuhan.
"I expect it to be a tough match. She’s not an easy opponent to play."
Gauff will be the only American left in the draw after third-ranked Jessica Pegula and tour rookie Hailey Baptiste both lost.
Pegula, the US Open finalist, had a tough afternoon against the 51st-ranked Wang Xinyu of China, who was dominant on serve throughout and clinched a 6-3, 7-5 win to make her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
Wang had won their only previous meeting in three sets in the second round at Wimbledon earlier this year and got off to a fast start here by breaking Pegula twice in the opening set to take the lead.
After her first win over a top 10 player in the previous round, Baptiste was routed 6-1, 6-1 by Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The 22-year-old American was broken six times by the No. 33-ranked Russian who clinched her quarterfinal berth against Wang in 63 minutes
Later, second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka looked to maintain her undefeated record at the Wuhan Open when she plays Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in her third-round match.
A win for the Belarussian will allow her to regain top spot in the rankings from Iga Swiatek, who is absent from the women's tour Asian swing citing personal reasons and fatigue.
Sabalenka, the reigning US Open champion, is 13-0 in Wuhan after winning the title on her first appearance in 2018 and defending her crown in 2019 before the tournament took a five-year hiatus from the calendar due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.