CANCUN, Mexico -- Toward the end of her 75-week run at No.1 and, more definitively afterward, Iga Swiatek acknowledged the pressure she felt.
Aryna Sabalenka, who succeeded her after the US Open, says she has yet to feel that heat.
“It’s not different, to be honest,” Sabalenka said on the eve of the GNP Seguro WTA Finals. “I think ranking, it’s just ranking. It’s not like I go on court right now and everyone will be, `OK, I’m not playing, you’re No.1, good luck in the next round.’ It’s not changing anything.
“I still need to work hard. I still need to bring my best tennis on court. I think I even need to work more because right now, I feel like I’m a target for everyone.”
On Sunday night, in her opening match, Sabalenka backed up those bold words. She shredded Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-1 in 76 minutes. Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Elena Rybakina, took early, forceful control of the Bacalar Group.
On Tuesday, the winners and losers of those opening matches meet in Estadio Paradisus.
[1] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [5] Jessica Pegula
The case for Sabalenka: Clearly, Sabalenka is feeling it right now.
The win against Sakkari was her 28th of the year over the other seven singles qualifiers here -- pushing her one ahead of Swiatek.
WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play
How fast did she come out of the box here? Sabalenka won the first 11 games, and that 6-0 first set was only the third perfect opening frame at the WTA Finals since 2003. Lindsay Davenport did it in 2004 and Simona Halep in 2015.
Head to Head
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“I think it’s a good pressure to have,” Sabalenka said, doubling down on her pre-tournament comments. “Not so many people are facing this pressure. Honestly, the more pressure I have [the] better I play and the more motivated I am.
“So I actually love this pressure.”
The history is in her favor. After Pegula won their first match in the 2020 Western & Southern Open in New York during the pandemic, Sabalenka has won four straight -- 2020 Roland Garros, 2021 Madrid, 2022 Rome and the 2022 WTA Finals.
The case for Pegula: The 29-year-old American’s sturdy emotional skill set -- calm, consistency, composure -- was in evidence against Rybakina.
With Rybakina serving for the first set at 5-3, Pegula won the next four games and 10 of the last 12. Perhaps more importantly, she got her first victory at the WTA Finals. A year ago, she went 0-6 in singles and doubles.
“If I went 0-7, I would be 0-7,” Pegula said afterward. “There’s nothing I can do about it. I just wanted to go out there and have a good attitude and compete well, and I thought I did a good job of that today, especially coming back after the first set.”
And while top seeds Pegula and Gauff were upset in their doubles match by No.7 Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, Pegula seems to be in a good place. This is her first meeting with Sabalenka this year and only the second overall on hard courts, her best surface.
[4] Elena Rybakina vs. [8] Maria Sakkari
The case for Rybakina: If this were a regular-season WTA Tour event, Rybakina and Sakkari already would be out. Through the miracle of round-robin play, they’re both still alive.
That said, the loser of this match will have a hugely uphill battle to reach the semifinals.
Rybakina was stoic after her loss to Pegula.
“It’s OK, I still have tomorrow day to rest, practice, and then I go to play another match,” she told reporters. “There is still a lot to improve.”
The first thing Rybakina needs to do is clean up the unforced errors. There were 35 against Pegula, backed by only 12 winners. Rybakina admitted “maybe a little indecision” crept into her game in pivotal moments.
The head-to-head is 1-all.
The case for Sakkari: This is her third straight trip to the WTA Finals and she would do well to remember 2021 in Guadalajara. After losing her opening match to Paula Badosa, Sakkari rallied, beating Swiatek and Sabalenka, to reach the semifinals.
It’s going to be a tough reset, though. At one point early in the second set here in Cancun, Sakkari wiped away tears with her wristband.
“Simplemente no fue un buen día. No tengo mucho que decir, solamente espero tener una mejor actuación en mi próximo partido”.@mariasakkari | #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/7vZxSPH7RV
— WTA Español (@WTA_Espanol) October 30, 2023
“Just don’t think that I’m the first or the last person that has felt this way on the court or has cried on the court,” she told reporters. “It’s not nice, but no one likes to get chopped on the court.
“Just you know, a very, very bad day in the office, and hopefully it’s going to get better for Tuesday.”
Recency bias is in her favor. While Rybakina took their first meeting, three years ago in St. Petersburg, Sakkari won their 2022 quarterfinal matchup in Indian Wells.
Doubles action: Fresh from competing in the Elite Trophy event in Zhuhai, China, Barbora Krejcikova and her fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova take on No. 6 seeds Vera Zvonareva and Laura Siegemund. Also: No.2 Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens, who were victorious in their opener, face No.8. Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez.
