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Sabalenka, Pegula off to Winning Starts in WTA Finals 

Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka serves to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their women’s singles quarter final match of the WTA China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 6, 2023. (AFP)
Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka serves to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their women’s singles quarter final match of the WTA China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 6, 2023. (AFP)
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Sabalenka, Pegula off to Winning Starts in WTA Finals 

Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka serves to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their women’s singles quarter final match of the WTA China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 6, 2023. (AFP)
Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka serves to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their women’s singles quarter final match of the WTA China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 6, 2023. (AFP)

World number one Aryna Sabalenka powered past Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-1 at the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico on Sunday where the Belarusian is looking to secure her top ranking after a spectacular season.

Two of Sakkari's three wins in nine meetings with Sabalenka had come in previous editions of the season finale but the Greek world number nine was no match this time for her opponent, who moved to the top of Group A alongside American Jessica Pegula.

Sabalenka converted five out of nine breakpoint chances and won 11 games in a row during the clash to finish in 74 minutes.

"She's an amazing player. She's always fighting for every ball," Sabalenka said.

"I knew no matter what the score is that she would fight for it. That's what makes her a really tough opponent.

"You know against Maria, any time she can come back. You give her a little bit and she'll take that and keep fighting. I just tried to stay in the moment."

Australian Open champion Sabalenka overtook four-times major champion Iga Swiatek and captured the top ranking after the US Open and will retain the number one spot if she goes undefeated in round-robin play or makes the final.

Earlier, Pegula won 10 of the last 12 games to get past an error-prone Elena Rybakina and notch a 7-5 6-2 win.

The big-serving Rybakina looked poised to capture the first set when she stepped to the service line leading 5-3 in the opener but Pegula raised her return game for a crucial break.

Pegula used that momentum to close out the set by winning four straight games and her clean ball striking overwhelmed the Kazakhstani, who tallied 35 unforced errors in the match.

"I feel like she just made a couple careless errors and I was able to take advantage of it at the right time and ride that momentum all the way through the second set," Pegula told Tennis Channel after securing the win.

"I thought I was returning really well, reading her serve a little bit more, and was able to play some good tennis."

Pegula, who is seeded fifth, will on Tuesday face eighth seed Sakkari of Greece.

The Oct. 29 to Nov. 5 Finals features the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world.

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Sinner Gets Past Rune at Australian Open in Match with Net, Medical Delays

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 20, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner shakes hands with Denmark's Holger Rune after winning his fourth round match REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 20, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner shakes hands with Denmark's Holger Rune after winning his fourth round match REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
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Sinner Gets Past Rune at Australian Open in Match with Net, Medical Delays

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 20, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner shakes hands with Denmark's Holger Rune after winning his fourth round match REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 20, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner shakes hands with Denmark's Holger Rune after winning his fourth round match REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

First came the medical timeouts, one each for Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune with the temperature above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) at the Australian Open. Then came the unusual sight of a 20-minute delay because the net at Rod Laver Arena detached from the court after being hit by a big Sinner serve.
In the end, Sinner put his physical struggles aside and emerged with the victory — as he keeps doing, no matter the site or the circumstances — and the defending champion moved into the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park on Monday by eliminating the 13th-seeded Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The No. 1-ranked Sinner occasionally tried to cool off by pressing a cold towel to his face or pouring water down the back of his neck, The Associated Press reported. He was far better down the stretch, both after a 10-minute-plus delay in the third set when he went to the locker room for medical attention and after a 20-minute holdup in the fourth when the screw connecting the net to the blue playing surface came undone.
“I knew in my mind ... I would struggle today,” Sinner said during his on-court interview, without saying what was wrong. "Me and the doctor, we talked a little bit. It helped me."
He has won 18 consecutive tour-level matches, dating to late 2024. Last season, Sinner went 73-6 with eight titles, the first man with that many tournament championships in a single year since Andy Murray in 2016.
That haul included Sinner’s first two Grand Slam trophies, at the Australian Open in January and the US Open in September, the latter shortly after he was exonerated for testing positive for an anabolic steroid twice in March. His case is still unresolved, though, with a hearing scheduled for April in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal of the ruling.
Rune, a 21-year-old from Denmark, was trying to get to the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the first time.
Sinner will face No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia or unseeded Alex Michelsen of the US for a berth in the semifinals. A second Italian joined Sinner in the quarterfinals when 55th-ranked Lorenzo Sonego got that far at a major tournament for the first time by ending the run of American qualifier Learner Tien 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Sonego will now face No. 21 Ben Shelton of the U.S. or Gael Monfils of France.