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Zheng had a 9-1 advantage in aces, but also had
more double faults, 6-2. Zheng saved five of eight break points
against two of five for Haddad Maia.
It was the first meeting between Zheng -- who saw her
eight-match win streak end -- and Haddad Maia, who did not drop
a set in the event. Zheng had won the event in Zhengzhou, China,
two weeks ago.
Haddad Maia not only earned her third WTA Tour career singles
victory on Sunday, she also won the doubles title as the top
seed with Veronika Kudermetova of Russia. They defeated No. 2
seeds Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, 6-3,
6-3.
WTA Finals Cancun
No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus nearly opened the season
finale with a double-bagel victory, settling for a 6-0, 6-1 rout
of No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in the round-robin opener
in Mexico.
Sabalenka won 21 of 26 first-service points (81.0 percent),
saved all five break points she faced and capitalized on
Sakkari's 19 unforced errors. Sabalenka led 6-0, 5-0 before
Sakkari fended off three match points to win her first and only
game.
In Sunday's only other match, fifth seed Jessica Pegula defeated
Kazakh fourth seed Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-2. The American
converted five of seven break-point opportunities while saving
five of the seven she faced.
The tournament's group stage split the top eight players in the
world into two groups of four. After the round robin, the two
players with the best records in each group will advance to a
single-elimination bracket.
Monday will see the other group begin play, with Poland's Iga
Swiatek facing Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova in the
2-versus-7 match and American Coco Gauff battling Tunisia's Ons
Jabeur in the 3-versus-6.
--Field Level Media
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