Aryna Sabalenka made a winning start over Jasmine Paolini in her bid to win the WTA Finals for the first time in her career.
Sabalenka lost in the semifinals of the WTA Finals last year, and has yet to win the title in her four previous appearances.
There is a different pressure on the Belarusian this year, with Sabalenka the standout player on the WTA Tour in 2025 as the world number one.
Despite the pressure on her shoulders, Sabalenka made a comprehensive start to her campaign against Jasmine Paolini.
Aryna Sabalenka reacts to her first win at the WTA Finals over Jasmine Paolini
Paolini, who qualified for the WTA Finals due to a rule loophole, is the only player to be competing in both singles and doubles at this year’s event.
The Italian made a winning start in doubles alongside Sara Errani, but was emphatically beaten by Sabalenka in singles, 6-3 6-1.
In the on-court interview after the match, Sabalenka was asked about receiving the year-end number one trophy prior to her first match in Riyadh.
Sabalenka responded, “Well that feels super special, of course I’m super happy and super proud of the work that has been done and yeah that things are working, and I am getting better and better every day and I just hope that we are going to keep doing what we are doing and hopefully we can stay there.”
Then when turning her attention to the match itself, Sabalenka spoke about the challenge that Paolini possesses and what she was most happy about with her performance.
“Yeah she’s a tough opponent, we’ve played a lot and every time it’s a tough battle it doesn’t matter the score I know I always have to stay focussed and if you give her opportunities she’s going to step in and she’s going to take control of the game,” explained Sabalenka. “So, I think I’m mostly happy with my focus today…I was focussed, I was calm and it felt like everything was in control.”
Unlike every other tournament on the calendar, the WTA Finals begin with a round-robin format, but Sabalenka is not seeing it any differently to any other tournament.
Sabalenka answered, “Well I don’t focus on round-robin, I take this tournament as a regular tournament and I have to win five matches if I want to win the title, so I’m just going for the win every time, like the last time probably, so I’m just trying to bring my best tennis and fight for every point.”
When reacting to the match, former world number four Tim Henman admitted that he could tell Jasmine Paolini was not feeling her best, but did not want to take anything from Sabalenka.
“You can only go out there and beat the player in front of you and there’s no doubt that Paolini was a bit under the weather, but Sabalenka continued really as she left off at the US Open with that Grand Slam title,” Henman said on Sky Sports.
“Got the early break in the first set and just continued to pile the pressure on the Italian and she will be absolutely delighted to get that first win in her group under her belt.”
Aryna Sabalenka matches Serena Williams after beating Jasmine Paolini
Not only has Sabalenka won her first match at this year’s WTA Finals, but she has also won her 60th match of the 2025 season.
Only one other player has achieved that this year on the WTA Tour and that is Iga Swiatek, and they have made history by doing so.
The last pair to win more than 60 matches each in one season are Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska in 2013.
Sabalenka will look to make this 61 wins when she plays her next match on Tuesday, November 4, against either Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula.
If she beats either of the Americans then that is likely to confirm her place into the semifinals of the WTA Finals.
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