WTA Finals: Sabalenka loses to Sakkari

Belarus’ world number 7 Aryna Sabalenka lost to world number 5 Maria Sakkari of Greece, 2-6, 4-6, in the second match of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, BelTA has learned.

In the Nancy Richey group opener the Belarusian outlasted world number 2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. In the final match of the round-robin play Sabalenka will face world number 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, who first lost to Maria Sakkari, 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (4-7) and then to Ons Jabeur, 6-1, 3-6, 3-6. Sabalenka holds a 3-1 lead in her head-to-head against Pegula. For the 24-year-old Aryna Sabalenka it is her second WTA Finals. She fell in the round-robin stage in 2021.

In the Tracy Austin Group world number one Iga Swiatek of Poland beat world number 8 Daria Kasatkina of Russia, 6-2, 6-3. This is the 65th vicotry of Iga Swiatek this season. World number 4 Coco Gauff of the United States lost to world number 6 Caroline Garcia of France, 4-6, 3-6.  

Two best players from each group will advance to the semifinal. The same scheme is used for the doubles event. The tournament will finish on 7 November.

The total prize money for the 2022 WTA Finals is $5 million. Last year the event was won by Spain’s Garbine Muguruza who defeated Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the final match. The doubles were won by the Czech tandem Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.