Aryna Sabalenka has secured qualification for the semi-finals stage of the WTA Finals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Jasmine Paolini, as Zheng Qinwen ended Elena Rybakina’s chances of moving on in Riyadh on Monday.
With two round-robin wins in as many matches this week in Saudi Arabia, Sabalenka guaranteed herself passage to the final four as the winner of the Purple Group.
The Belarusian top seed is also just one victory away from locking down the year-end No 1 ranking, which she is in a direct battle over with Iga Swiatek.
Sabalenka bounced back from 0-2 down in the second set, and saved two set points at 4-5 to overcome Italian fourth seed Paolini and has now won 22 of her last 23 matches on tour.
“The second set was quite tricky. Honestly, I just tried to stay aggressive and show her that I’m going to fight for this set no matter what and I’m really happy I was able to win in straight sets,” said Sabalenka after the victory.
“Halfway through the second set I was already thinking about the third set. But I was like, wait, wait, it’s not the third set until it’s the third set. I’m happy all those shots on set points went in.”
Earlier at King Saud University Indoor Arena, Zheng improved her chances of advancing to the semi-finals with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 victory over world No 5 Rybakina.
The seventh-seeded Zheng rebounded from her opening round-robin defeat to Sabalenka by claiming her first win from three meetings with Rybakina.
Meanwhile, Rybakina suffered her second defeat of the week in Saudi Arabia, and has no chance of reaching the semi-finals, with one more round-robin clash to go against Sabalenka on Wednesday.
Zheng apologised to the crowd during her on-court interview for yelling, “Don’t shout more”, at some of her supporters at a crucial moment in the final set.
She thanked them for their support and later acknowledged she could have handled the moment better.
“I felt today in such an important moment, when they shout so hard my name, my heart rate goes up. So I hold and hold, until one moment I can’t hold more,” Zheng said during her post-match press conference.
“After I’m feeling a bit bad because if I can control my emotions a bit better, I was supposed not to say that to my crowd.”
Zheng arrived in Riyadh on the back of an impressive second half of the season that saw her win titles in Palermo and Tokyo, and an Olympic gold medal in singles in Paris. No woman has won more matches than her within that span.
The first Chinese player to qualify for the WTA Finals since Li Na in 2013, Zheng amassed a 12-2 win-loss record during the Asian swing last month and is the tour leader in most aces struck and percentage of first-serve points won.
Zheng made the first move, breaking Rybakina en route to a 4-1 advantage but her lead was erased as Rybakina attacked her second serve to draw level.
The set fittingly went to a tiebreak, which Zheng sealed on a long forehand from Rybakina on the 58-minute mark.
In a pattern similar to the opening set, Zheng carved out a lead in the second frame, only for Rybakina to strike back and even the score. This time though, the 2023 Wimbledon champion took four games in a row, to claim the second set and force a decider.
Zheng shook off early trouble on her serve in the final set before surging ahead 4-1. It was the boost she needed to wrap up the win – the ninth of her career against a top-10 opponent.
The Chinese Olympic champion now owns a tour-leading 20 three-set wins in 2024 – the highest tally by a WTA player in a single season since 2016.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
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Tests: 53; Innings: 98; Not outs: 11; Runs: 4,594; Best score: 254; Average: 52.80; 100s: 11; 50s: 27
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GROUP RESULTS
Group A
Results
Ireland beat UAE by 226 runs
West Indies beat Netherlands by 54 runs
Group B
Results
Zimbabwe tied with Scotland
Nepal beat Hong Kong by five wickets
