Aryna Sabalenka made a powerful start to her campaign at the WTA finals by defeating Jasmine Paolini on Sunday, November 2.
The world number one defeated Italian tennis player with a score of 6-3 6-1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This was her fifth consecutive win over Paolini and has also achieved a total of 60 match wins on the tennis tour this year.
The US Open champion Sabalenka took an earl lead by breaking her opponent's serve with a backhand.
However, Paolini challenged her with low shots down the center of the court and Sabalenka's forehand mistakes allowed Paolini to break her serve, narrowing the score to 4-3.
A four-time Grand Slam winner then regained control by breaking Paolini's serve and eventually won the match.
After winning the match, the 27-year-old said, “I was focused, I was calm and it felt like everything was in control. I’m super happy and super proud of the work that has been done and that things are working and I’m getting better and better every day,” as per Fox Sports.
The player added, “And I just hope that we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully we can stay there.”
This victory is even more special for Sabalenka as she was presented with a trophy for finishing the year at No. 1 on Saturday, November 1.
