World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka beaten 6-4 6-3 by Jessica Pegula at WTA Finals in Cancun; Pegula remains only unbeaten player left in Group A and moves closer to semi-finals; American lost all three of her matches at last year's tournament
Wednesday 1 November 2023 10:03, UK
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka lost to Jessica Pegula in straight sets as the WTA Finals continued in Cancun on Tuesday.
Sabalenka and Pegula had won their opening matches on Sunday evening, with the former breezing past Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-1 and Pegula defeating Elena Rybakina 7-5 6-2.
American world No 5 Pegula is now the only unbeaten player in Group A after seeing off Sabalenka 6-4 6-3 for just her second victory over the Belarusian in six meetings.
One of Pegula's four previous losses to Sabalenka had come in the group stage of the 2022 WTA Finals but she earned revenge a year later to gain a place in the semi-finals due to Elena Rybakina eliminating Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka had been critical of the hastily-assembled arena in Cancun after beating Sakkari on Sunday, saying: "I'm very disappointed with the WTA and the experience at the WTA Finals.
"As a player, I feel really disrespected by the WTA. I think most of us do. This is not the level of organisation we expect for the Finals.
"To be honest, I don't feel safe moving on this court a lot of the time, the bounce is not consistent at all, and we weren't able to practise on this court until yesterday for the first time."
Sabalenka will now play Rybakina on Thursday night to determine the second qualifier from the group after Rybakina defeated Sakkari 6-0 6-7 (4) 7-6 (2).
Rybakina started with a fury with a dominant first set but Sakkari fought her way back, winning the second set in a tiebreak.
Sakkari had two break point chances in the final set at 4-4, but Rybakina fought back and finished the tiebreak in a dominant fashion, skipping out to a 6-0 lead.
Sakkari and Rybakina meet in Tuesday's second match before the players in Group B play their second fixtures on Wednesday as Iga Swiatek battles Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur faces Markéta Vondroušová.
Swiatek and Gauff head the pool following wins over Vondroušová and Jabeur respectively - Polish player Swiatek winning 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 against her Czech opponent and American Gauf surging to a 6-0 6-1 success against Tunisia's Jabeur.
Spaniard Riba joined Gauff's team ahead of the 2023 Eastbourne International in June, with the American later hiring Gilbert as a consultant.
The 19-year-old won the Citi Open in Washington, Cincinnati Open, and then the US Open under their guidance.
