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In the initial matches of the Nancy Richey Group, No. 5 Maria
Sakkari of Greece topped No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United
States 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), and No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus
rallied past No. 2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
The season's eight top players were divided into the Nancy
Richey Group and the Tracy Austin Group for round-robin play.
The winner of each group will play the runner-up from the
opposite group in the semifinals, with the victor in those two
matches heading to the final on Nov. 7.
The prize pool is $5 million, and an unbeaten champion would
earn $1.68 million.
The Tracy Austin Group kicks off on Tuesday with No. 1 Iga
Swiatek of Poland opposing No. 8 Daria Kasatkina of Russia
before No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States squares off against
No. 6 Caroline Garcia of France.
Sakkari served for the first set at 6-5, Pegula broke to force a
tiebreaker. After taking the first three tiebreaker points,
Sakkari moved to a 5-2 lead and eventually sealed the set on her
third set point.
Pegula fell behind 3-0 in the second set but pulled level at
3-3. As in the first set, Sakkari had a big chance at the 12th
game, but Pegula staved off two match points to set up another
tiebreaker. Sakkari claimed the final four points to clinch the
match.
"I was very aggressive," Sakkari said. "If you're passive, Jess
is just going to make you run. She's going to hit the ball very
hard, and it's over. ...
"I don't think it ever crossed her mind that it's going to be an
easy match because she beat me a week ago. I never felt like she
underestimated me today."
Sabalenka lost serve to open the match against Jabeur, who went
on to control the opening set. Sabalenka bounced back to take a
4-1 lead in the second before Jabeur forced a tiebreaker that
Sabalenka won to level the match.
The final set saw each player drop serve once before Sabalenka
got the decisive break in the final game.
"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,'" Sabalenka said "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."
WTA Finals group standings
Nancy Richey Group
T1. Maria Sakkari, 1-0
T1. Aryna Sabalenka, 1-0
T3. Ons Jabeur, 0-1
T3. Jessica Pegula, 0-1
Tracy Austin Group
T1. Iga Swiatek, 0-0
T1. Coco Gauff, 0-0
T1. Caroline Garcia, 0-0
T1. Daria Kasatkina, 0-0
--Field Level Media
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