Aryna Sabalenka says what she was constantly telling herself during her WTA Finals win vs Jasmine Paolini

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Aryna Sabalenka is already into the semi-finals at the WTA Finals after beating Jasmine Paolini in Riyadh.

Sabalenka is number one at the WTA Finals for the second successive year, and she has been living up to that rank so far.

The Belarusian is top of the pile in Saudi Arabia, with Sabalenka having taken over from Iga Swiatek as world number one just before the WTA Finals.

And Sabalenka now has two wins from two, having beaten both Paolini and Qinwen Zheng in straight sets.

She has one final group game against Elena Rybakina to play, with her upcoming opponent already out of contention after back-to-back losses.

What Aryna Sabalenka was constantly telling herself vs Jasmine Paolini

Sabalenka is looking like her very best on the court, but she has admitted that it wasn’t a straightforward win against Paolini.

“I was already thinking about a third set, but I kept reminding myself, like Aryna, you’re still in the second set,” she said, as quoted by the WTA website.

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“You still got a lot of chances, you’re serving. And I don’t know, honestly, I was just trying to stay aggressive.”

Aryna Sabalenka now on 22 wins from her last 23 matches

Sabalenka may just take her foot off the gas in her final group game, which would undoubtedly conserve her energy for the semi-finals.

At the same time, however, a strong performance against Rybakina will keep her physical and mental levels high.

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And that will definitely be a requirement for Sabalenka to go all the way in Riyadh, with the other group certain to produce strong semi-finalists.

But the 26-year-old Belarusian, who has two Grand Slam titles to her name this year, is certainly the player to beat.

Her confidence will be sky hight, with Sabalenka now winning 22 of her last 23 matches, a run that has helped her win the Cincinnati Open, US Open and Wuhan Open.