Serve fires Sabalenka to crushing win over Paolini at WTA Finals

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jasmine Paolini to claim the WTA Finals title, earning her the year-end world number one spot.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sabalenka, the reigning US Open champion, won 6-3, 6-1 to defeat the fatigued Italian.

Sabalenka won her 60th game of the year and her 12th against a top-10 opponent when she defeated world number eight Paolini.

Sabalenka, a Belarusian, has spent 63 weeks overall at the top of the world, including 55 consecutive weeks since October, 2013.

Sabalenka has won the title five times in a row, but she hasn’t qualified for the year-end Finals. In 2022, she came in second behind Caroline Garcia.

Paolini, who is the only player competing in both singles and doubles, was absolutely fantastic against the 29-year-old.

Sabalenka produced 24 winners overpowering the agile Paolini and 11 aces in 66% of first-serve points.

Before Sabalenka started winning six games in a row to end the first set and take a 4-0 lead into the second, the pair traded breaks in the first set.

Paolini got on the board and let Sabalenka score, but Paolini didn’t really threaten until the next game when big first serves gave her the lead.

In a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, third seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, won the doubles match.

Victoria Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian, won the Hong Kong Open 7-5 6-7 (9-11) 6-2 to extend her remarkable year.