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World number one Aryna Sabalenka entered “beast mode” to defeat Jessica Pegula and close in on a place in the knockout stages of the WTA Finals – after Coco Gauff also won to keep alive her hopes of defending her title.

US Open champion Sabalenka secured back-to-back wins in Riyadh by overcoming American fifth seed Pegula 6-4 2-6 6-3, but required a straight-set win to confirm her progress from the Stefanie Graf Group.

Instead, Sabalenka will face world number three Gauff in the final round on Thursday with both players’ semi-final hopes in the balance.

“[Pegula] played incredible tennis. In the second set she started playing on another level and when I went a break down in the third I just told myself I had to play more aggressive,” Sabalenka told Sky Sports.

“I felt sorry, but at the same time I was so happy that I was able to find that beast mode inside of me and go after my shots and play unbelievable.”

Earlier, American Gauff ensured she remains in contention by eliminating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in an impressive 6-3 6-2 win.

Having recorded 17 double faults and 75 unforced errors in her opening loss to Pegula on Sunday, the 21-year-old demonstrated her title credentials in an assured performance.

The leading eight women’s players in singles and doubles are competing in Saudi Arabia, with the tournament having £12m ($15.5m) in prize money.

In a competitive, high-quality match, Sabalenka ended Pegula’s early resistance with a fourth break point for a 4-2 lead in the first set.

The Belarusian then overcame the frustration of being broken back after missing a first set point by eventually taking her fifth opportunity to close out the set on her opponent’s serve after 45 minutes.

But Pegula, aware victory by any result would send her through to the semi-finals, took charge of the second set, backing up a break to love by saving two break points against her for a 3-1 lead.

After Sabalenka conceded another break with a double fault – losing a third service game in five – Pegula battled back from two break points down to level the match.

An unsettled Sabalenka was punished for missing her first opportunity of the final set when Pegula clinched her fourth break point to edge in front, but the four-time major winner struck back in an enthralling decider.

That proved crucial as Sabalenka embarked on a four-game streak and, unlike at the Wuhan Open in October, would not allow Pegula to pull off a late fightback – sealing victory with a superb forehand winner.

Sabalenka’s coach, Anton Dubrov, left his seat midway through the match after his player became “so frustrated”.

French Open champion Gauff reset admirably following her scrappy display against Pegula and reasserted herself as a title challenger with this solid performance.

She produced just three double faults and reduced her total unforced errors by over half (30), with her more consistent serving in particular providing a significant confidence boost before her meeting with Sabalenka.

Displaying calmness and confidence from the back of the court, Gauff appeared largely in control after taking charge of the opening set.

After breaking world number eight Paolini to love at the first opportunity, Gauff withstood three break points to establish a commanding 3-0 lead – and struck back immediately when the Italian offered a response, before serving out the set.

With 29-year-old Paolini’s resistance fading, Gauff converted the first break point of the second set following a superb forehand winner, before sealing victory with a dominant five-game streak.

“I’m really happy with how I played today, it was definitely a turnaround from my first match,” said Gauff.

Newcastle United defender Dan Burn says his side need to be “more ugly” in the way they play and take inspiration from league leaders Arsenal.

Eddie Howe’s team suffered a 3-1 Premier League defeat against West Ham at London Stadium on Sunday as the struggling Hammers secured their first home win in nearly nine months.

Newcastle have not won an away league game since April and Burn says his side’s issues on the road have been a huge “frustration”.

“It comes down to mentality,” he said. “The manager will look at that and I’m sure he will come up with a plan on what we can do better and how we can win games, probably be a bit more ugly with stuff.

“We were well known a few years ago for – I won’t say the word but ‘something housery’ – and a lot of the stuff that has come in has pushed us away from that.

“But if you go away from home, sometimes, it’s important not to get beat, pick up points and keep yourself ticking along. As long as you’re winning your home games, and not getting beat away, it’s better but we have not done that well enough.”

Newcastle have won their past four home games in all competitions and will be favourites when they face Athletic Club in the Champions League at St James’ Park on Wednesday.

But Burn warned the subsequent trip to Brentford on Sunday is “where you need to earn your money”.

“The first year we were in the Champions League, we were more of an underdog and teams probably didn’t respect us as much as they should,” he added.

“We could go ugly and bully teams and that was the way we went about it but as you progress and want to push on, you move away from that because you bring in better quality players and play better football. But there’s always a place for that in the game.

“Arsenal are quite good at doing that, but are playing very good football and are top of the league.