Sabalenka continues Zheng dominance at WTA Finals

Aryna Sabalenka was runner-up to Caroline Garcia at the 2022 WTA Finals

Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance over Zheng Qinwen with victory in the first match of the season-ending WTA Finals.

New world number one Sabalenka beat the Chinese seventh seed 6-3 6-4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sabalenka has won all five of her meetings with Zheng, including four this year, leading Chinese fans to nickname the Belarusian "the mountain that Zheng is yet to overcome".

Sabalenka beat Zheng in the Australian Open final in January and won her third Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in September.

She has never claimed the WTA Finals title - something she said on Saturday was "one of my dreams".

"It would mean everything to me. I really worked hard the past years since the very beginning of my career," the 26-year-old said.

"I really hope I'll be able to hold this beautiful trophy one day."

Jasmine Paolini beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in the second match of the Purple Group on Saturday.

Round-robin matches in the Orange Group - consisting of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova - begin on Sunday.

The tournament is being held in Saudi Arabia for the first time - a move which has been criticised by some because of the country's human rights record.

Sabalenka is the heavy favourite for the title, having replaced Iga Swiatek at the top of the world rankings in October.

She has won four titles this year including last month's Wuhan Open, where she beat Zheng in the final.

However, Zheng has had a successful year of her own, culminating in winning Olympic gold on the Paris clay in July.

The pair were evenly matched in the opening stages before Sabalenka, the heaviest hitter in the women's game, pounced to break for 4-2 and ultimately serve out the set.

Zheng kept pace with her opponent in the second but a poor service game, capped off by a double fault, handed Sabalenka two break points at 4-4.

The first one sailed just long before Sabalenka stepped into a trademark forehand winner to break and ultimately serve out the match.

She hit her only double fault on match point before securing victory on the next point - a recovery so quick that Zheng, standing by the towel box, did not realise the match was over until Sabalenka approached the net.

Paolini wins on WTA Finals debut

Neymar - who plays in the Saudi Pro League - was part of the pre-match coin toss

Like Sabalenka, Rybakina had a dominant start to the season, reaching five finals in the first four months.

However, her season has been disrupted by illness and injury, with the former Wimbledon champion arriving in Riyadh having not played a match for two months.

Italy's Paolini, by contrast, has grown in strength throughout the year, winning a WTA 1,000 title in Dubai in February before reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Her match fitness won out against Kazakh Rybakina, who hit 56 unforced errors and looked fatigued as the match went on.

The two traded breaks in the first set before Paolini claimed an error-strewn tie-break after 64 minutes.

Rybakina was frequently on the back foot in the second set, staving off two break points in the first game before Paolini eventually broke through for a 4-3 lead and eventually served out the match.

"I'm glad that was done in two sets," Paolini joked afterwards.

Paolini is also competing in the doubles alongside Sara Errani, with whom she won gold with for Italy at the Olympics.

This year's tournament has record prize money, with the singles champion set to collect about £4m.