At the WTA Finals, Sabalenko defeated Jasmine Paulini to reach the semi-finals

Belarus star Aryna Sabalenko and Italian player Jasmine Paulini made impressive starts in the group stage of the WTA Finals tennis tournament in Riyadh. In the round robin match, top seed Sabalenko defeated seventh seed Zheng Qianwen of China 6-3, 6-4 to maintain her unbeaten record against the Chinese player.

There have been four matches between the two so far and Sabalenka has won all of them. In another match, fourth seed Paulini defeated Kazakhstan's Ilina Rybakina 7-6, 6-4. World number one Sabalenka defeated Paolini 6-3, 7-5 in the final match of the group to top the Purple round robin group and qualify for the semi-finals. After this, China's Zheng maintained her claim for the last four by defeating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-1 in the group league match.