Sabalenka battled back on each occasion to earn her fourth career victory over a player rated inside the Top 2.
At the WTA Finals on Tuesday, Belarusian player, Aryna Sabalenka defeated No. 2 seed and two times grand slams finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in a gruelling round-robin match by scores of 3-6, 7-6(5), and 7-5.
The No. 7 seed, Sabalenka, needed almost 2.5 hours to lead Jabeur, a first-time WTA Finals competitor and this year’s Wimbledon and US Open finalist, 3-1 in their head-to-head matchup.
In the second set tiebreak, Jabeur was two points from winning at 5-3, and in the third set, she was one point from taking a 5-2 lead.
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According to wtatennis.com, Sabalenka battled back on each occasion to earn her fourth career victory over a player rated inside the Top 2.
After their victories on Day 1, Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari of Greece are the early leaders of the Nancy Richey Group. In the opening singles match of the day, Sakkari defeated American Jessica Pegula in two tiebreak sets.
At Dickies Arena, No. 5 seed Sakkari defeated No. 3 Pegula 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) after surviving two tense tiebreakers.
“I’m just trying to enjoy every second being here, and I’m just trying to do my best and see what the last week of the season can bring,” Sabalenka said following her upset win.
“I was just like, ‘Keep trying, keep fighting, and make sure that if she wants to win this match, she has to do something great, not like an easy win.’ And I think that’s why I put a little bit more pressure on her and in the key moments, I was able to win it,” added the Belarusian.
Sabalenka won the group stage for the second year in a row while competing at the WTA Finals, where she was making her second consecutive appearance.
In the round-robin part of last year’s competition, Sabalenka defeated the Polish player Iga Swiatek but lost her other two matches to Sakkari and the Spanish player Paula Badosa.
(inputs from IANS)
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