Riyadh, 3 November (HIST). China’s Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qianwen started her first campaign at the WTA Finals in Riyadh with a defeat. Kinven lost to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in another singles match in the Purple Group, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini defeated Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-6(5), 6-4. Zheng has faced Sabalenka three times this season, losing all meetings, including a tight three-set match in the Wuhan Open final last month.
Despite serving eight impressive aces in her WTA Finals debut, Zheng was broken once in each set and ultimately lost to the top-seeded player.
On his performance after the match, Zheng said, I gave about 60-70% of my best in the match, and there are still some details to improve. Once I improve them, I’m confident I can really challenge him. It felt like I was back in China. Their support gave me great strength.
Next up, Zheng will face Rybakina and Paolini in the remaining round-robin group stage matches.
“I will focus on target training, but the most important thing is to play my tennis and show my style,” she said.
Paolini, who was also appearing in her first WTA final, won the first set in a close tiebreak and then took advantage of a crucial break in the seventh game of the second set to defeat Rybakina, who was eliminated from the US Open before the second round. She was playing her first tour match since her withdrawal.
The Doubles Green Group saw two exciting comebacks in the opening round. Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez defeated Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens 1-6, 6-1, 10-6. Meanwhile, Kateryna Siniakova and Taylor Townsend defeated Lyudmila Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.
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Hindusthan News / Sunil Dubey
2024-11-03 06:29:00