Rybakina and Sabalenka head groups at Finals
AP, INDIAN WELLS, California
Top-ranked Elena Rybakina and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka are to head their respective singles groups at the WTA Finals, with Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula landing in the same group.
The draw on Tuesday divided the eight qualifying singles and doubles teams into round-robin groups for the season-ending championships, which are to begin on Sunday and run through Nov. 15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Each player and team faces the other three in their group over the first six days, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals.
Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka leaves the court following her match at the China Open at the National Tennis Center in Beijing on Oct. 4.
Photo: Reuters
Besides defending WTA Finals champion Rybakina, fourth-seeded Gauff, fifth-seeded Pegula and No. 8 seed Linda Noskova are in Group 1.
“Feeling very excited,” said Rybakina, who won the US Open. “It’s definitely every year different. Now we’re playing outside. It’s a lot of tough players, all great champions.”
It’s the first time since 2023 in Cancun, Mexico, that the Finals are to be played outdoors.
Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina speaks after her match at the Pan Pacific Open at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo on Saturday.
Photo: Reuters
After Sabalenka, the others in Group 2 are third-seeded Mirra Andreeva, No. 6 Elina Svitolina and No. 7 Karolina Muchova.
Last year, Rybakina defeated Sabalenka in the final to win the title.
French Open champion Andreeva, Muchova and Wimbledon champion Noskova are making their Finals debuts.
In the doubles, top-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani lead Group 1 and second-seeded Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova are atop Group 2.
The others in Group 1 are third-seeded Guo Hanyu and Kristina Mladenovic, fifth-seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko, and seventh-seeded Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai.
The rest of Group 2 is fourth-seeded Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, No. 6 Ellen Perez and Demi Schuurs and No. 8 Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
In India, Joanna Garland of Taiwan defeated Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 to move into the last-16 at the Chennai Open.
Garland next faces Janice Tjen of Indonesia at the US$283,347 WTA250 tournament at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai.
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