RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka produced a dominant serving performance in her first match of the WTA finals on Sunday, blasting 10 aces to beat No. 8 Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-1.
In the last game of the first set alone, Sabalenka hit four aces, and her first serve hit rate was as high as 82.7%.
This match was Sabalenka’s 500th match at the WTA level and lasted 70 minutes.
“I’m focused, calm and feel like I’m in control,” Sabalenka said.
On Saturday, Sabalenka received the No. 1 trophy of the year.
“I’m really happy and proud of the work that’s been done, things are progressing and I’m getting better and better every day,” she said. “I just hope we can keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully we can stay there.”
The end-of-season tournament for the top eight players of the year begins with two rounds of four-person group play. The top two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula were also in Sabalenka and Paolini’s group.
“I treat this tournament as a regular tournament, if I want to win the championship I have to win five games,” Sabalenka said. “So I’m just trying to play my best tennis and fight for every point.”
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina won Saturday’s opening match.
Then, defending champion Goff faced off against Pegula in the All-American Showdown.
Also on Saturday, Paolini and partner Sara Errani won their first doubles match.
