Aryna Sabalenka sizzles past Sakkari as WTA Finals begin

Sakkari saved three match points to hold serve in the penultimate game but fell after 74 minutes

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka moved closer to clinching the year-end World No. 1 ranking on Sunday by dominating Greece’s Maria Sakkari in a group-stage opener at the WTA Finals. Sabalenka, 25, from Belarus, who captured this year’s Australian Open title, fired six aces and 17 winners while saving all five break points she faced to dispatch Sakkari 6-0, 6-1 at the season-ending event in Cancun, Mexico.

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Sakkari saved three match points to hold serve in the penultimate game but fell after 74 minutes. “It wasn’t as easy as the score showed,” Sabalenka said. “I just tries to stay focused, tried to control myself in this match, doing everything I can to win.” American Jessica Pegula defeated Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-2 in 83 minutes in the other singles group stage match.  Sabalenka is trying to hold off second-ranked Iga Swiatek, the reigning French Open champion from Poland, to claim the year-end crown taken last year by four-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek.

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