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Wins for Sabalenka and Paolini on Opening Day of WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action during her Singles group stage match against Qinwen Zheng of China at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 02 November 2024. EPA/STRINGER
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action during her Singles group stage match against Qinwen Zheng of China at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 02 November 2024. EPA/STRINGER
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Wins for Sabalenka and Paolini on Opening Day of WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action during her Singles group stage match against Qinwen Zheng of China at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 02 November 2024. EPA/STRINGER
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action during her Singles group stage match against Qinwen Zheng of China at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 02 November 2024. EPA/STRINGER

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka eased to a straight-set victory over Zheng Qinwen in the opening match of the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Sabalenka won 6-3, 6-4 to extend her perfect record against the Chinese player to 5-0. It was also her 21st win in her last 22 matches.
The seventh-seeded Zheng lost the last three games as her focus slipped, and also appeared to have lost track of the score. After hitting a backhand long on match point, Zheng headed toward her chair on what she seemed to think was a change of ends instead of going to the net for the traditional handshake.
She smiled and held up her hand in apology after realizing before heading back to the center.
The victory also sets up Sabalenka for ending the year at the top. The Belarusian player only needs to win two of her three group matches to ensure she retains the No. 1 ranking.
Fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy beat fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina in the other Purple Group match.
Paolini, who is enjoying a breakout season, edged a tight match 7-6 (5), 6-4 on her debut at the year-ending tournament for the top eight ranked players.
American players Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will face off in the Orange Group on Sunday after second-seeded Iga Swiatek takes on Barbora Krejcikova.

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Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Bayern Munich have enough talented players to replace injured striker Harry Kane, starting on Tuesday with their German Cup round of 16 tie against holders Bayer Leverkusen, coach Vincent Kompany.

The England captain, who has netted 20 goals across all competitions this season and leads the Bundesliga scorers' list with 14, suffered a thigh muscle injury in Saturday's 1-1 league draw at Borussia Dortmund.

Kane is expected to be out for a couple of weeks but Kompany said he hoped he could still return to action before the winter break starts on Dec. 22. Bayern are top of the Bundesliga with a four-point lead over Eintracht Frankfurt.

"It is difficult to say at this moment but there is a chance for him to still play this year," Kompany told a press conference on Monday.

"But he will miss several games and to replace him, you know you cannot replace the goals or the player one-for-one. That's why he is a top player."

Kompany said players like Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise and Leroy Sane had enough experience to fill the gap.

"We have talent in the team and need to solve it differently. We won't be lacking talent tomorrow but it will look different," Kompany said.

"We have many options. Thomas Mueller, Mathys Tel, Gnabry, Olise, Leroy. I now named almost everyone. Obviously, Harry has scored 20 goals... but we have dangerous players in attack."

Bayern last won the German Cup in 2020 and have failed to get past the quarter-finals since, losing in the second round in three of the past four seasons.

"We play the Cup holders tomorrow. One of the top two or three games in Germany, and I hope our performance will match the importance of the game," Kompany said.