WTA Finals, Aryna Sabalenka also beats Coco Gauff

World No. 1 Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka beat U.S. No. 3 Coco Gauff by a score of 7-6 6-2 in one hour and 28 minutes of play, thus eliminating her.

Sabalenka immediately lost her serve in the first game, then came back from 2-2 down. New break for Gauff in the fifth game, with the U.S. missing three balls for 5-2 in the seventh, but Aryna came back from 3-5 to 5-5 and then won a balanced tie-break 7-5.

Missed chances weigh on Gauff: Sabalenka flies 4-0 in the second set, loses one of the two break leads in the sixth game but recovers it immediately taking home the match and first place with full points in the group dedicated to Steffi Graf.

This is the composition of tomorrow’s semifinals: Sabalenka will play against Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. in the second match, the second qualifier in the round is Jessica Pegula, who beat Jasmine Paolini today and will now face Russian-Kazakh Elena Rybakina.