Aryna Sabalenka is in high spirits at the WTA Finals and closing in on the year-end world No.1 spot.
The Belarusian has cruised into the semi-finals in Riyadh with a game to spare, and she even had time to halt her own practice session for a brief chat with Sky Sports host Gigi Salmon and pundit Laura Robson.
Robson, who was midway through discussing Sabalenka’s situation when the 26-year-old came bounding over, said: “To have all that pressure, knowing that you want to finish the season as the year-end number one, to know, going into the tournament, what has to be done… Yes, hello!”
Sabalenka came into camera shot between the Sky Sports pair and said: “I heard you guys talking about me. Only good things? Just keep saying whatever you’re saying. It’s working so far!”
That much is clear based on her scintillating performances in Saudi Arabia. The top seed is yet to drop a set across two tricky group-stage matches against Qinwen Zheng and Jasmine Paolini.
Sabalenka is already through to the semi-finals, effectively making her on-court clash with Elena Rybakina later today (Wednesday) a dead rubber. But there is another huge factor to motivate the three-time Grand Slam champion.
Victory against Rybakina would mathematically guarantee that Sabalenka finishes 2024 as the world No.1, ahead of rival Iga Swiatek. She has been in red-hot form of late, with wins at the Cincinnati Masters, the US Open and the Wuhan Open making it three overall victories in the four tournaments she has played.
Asked how she plans to stay motivated ahead of her match with Rybakina, Sabalenka said: “It’s definitely tricky, but you know, we’re chasing number one here so I’m going to just keep that in mind, and I want to go for all of the points possible. That’s my motivation right now.”
Sabalenka defeated Paolini 6-3 7-5 in her last match, but she had to dig deep in the second set, when the Italian battled back from 4-2 down and earned two set points. Sabalenka defended both of them on her own serve and roared on to victory.
“I was already thinking about a third set but I kept reminding myself, ‘You’re still in the second set, you’ve still got a lot of chances, you’re serving’,” she explained. “And I was just trying to stay aggressive. I was just trying to show her that she’ll have to put in some hard work to get that win.”
