RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Aryna Sabalenka hasn’t been reading the small print. So far, she’s avoided dwelling on the many complicated scenarios for retaining the No.1 ranking.

“No,” Sabalenka said in a Friday interview. “Anyway anytime we come to the tournament, we want to win. That’s the first goal. I’m trying to be focused on the first part. I prefer to focus step by step. Let’s just start, like, slowly.”

WTA Finals Riyadh: Scores | Schedule | Standings

When it came time to play the opening singles match Saturday evening at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, Sabalenka’s approach was anything but slow. More like fast and furious.

Sabalenka forcefully defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4 -- and hiked her record against the rising Chinese star to 5-0. Sabalenka has now won 21 of 22 matches.

She patiently answered no fewer than 14 questions in her postmatch press conference. None of them involved the No.1 ranking.

Purple groups tandings

WTA

The one that mattered most was when a reporter wondered what gave her the advantage in the match.

“I think my mental strength,” Sabalenka said, perhaps thinking of those double faults. “That’s the advantage over her so far.”

The World No.1 is undefeated in their last 11 opening round-robin matches at the WTA Finals. Moreover, Sabalenka has won 11 matches this year against the seven other finalists -- more than any of them have against the field. She also leads the WTA Tour with 10 wins against Top 10 opponents.

“I’m super happy with the win, especially against Qinwen,” Sabalenka said. “It’s always tough matches, tough battles against her, and I’m really, I’m really glad I was able to finish this match in straight sets.”

The Purple Group features the three biggest servers in the game -- Sabalenka, Zheng and Elena Rybakina.

“Coming here, you kind of know what you're going to get,” said Jessica Pegula, who felt fortunate to be placed in the Orange Group. “It’s inside. It definitely caters to big servers. Having three of the biggest servers on the tour in one group, that will obviously be an interesting group, kind of different type of tennis.”

But Saturday, second serves turned out to be the critical factor. While Zheng blasted eight aces, five more than Sabalenka, she lost 14 of her 27 second-serve points. Two of those came on double faults in both of Sabalenka’s critical breaks.

Both players came in blazing hot. Sabalenka, with titles in Cincinnati, the US Open and Wuhan, was 20-1. Zheng, going back to the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, has won 23 of 27 matches, book-ending that run with a title a week ago in Tokyo.

Initially, the match in King Saud University Sports Arena was a tight one, with both players holding serve -- until the 30-minute mark. That’s when Sabalenka distanced herself with a tenacious return game at 3-2. She closed the deal, converting her second break point of the match (following a double fault) with a big return that Zheng could only hit into the net.

A little while later, Sabalenka served out the first set -- at love. History repeated itself with Zheng serving at 4-all in the second. Sabalenka converted her second break.

Don’t tell Sabalenka, but the simplest way for her to secure the year-end No.1 ranking is by taking matter into her own hands by winning all three of her group matches. So one down and two to go. Short of that, regardless of what Iga Swiatek does, Sabalenka can clinch by advancing to the final. The only way Swiatek has a chance to regain the No.1 ranking is by winning the tournament.

With record prize money available, Sabalenka collected a cool $350,000 for the victory, as well as 200 rankings points. If she can sweep the Purple Group, with wins next week against No.4 Jasmine Paolini and No.5 Elena Rybakina, the prize money will be secondary to her first year-end No.1 ranking.