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RIYADH: The WTA Finals are back in Riyadh for a second straight year, with the top eight women of the tour ready to do battle one last time this season.
Taking place at King Saud University Indoor Arena from November 1 to 8, the world’s best players are split into two groups of four. They will go through a round-robin stage, with the top two in each group advancing to Friday’s semifinals.
Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed and headlines the Stephanie Graf Group alongside defending champion Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini, while second-seeded Iga Swiatek is in the Serena Williams Group with Madison Keys, Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anismova.
Seven of the eight players spoke to the press on Friday, with Paolini forced to skip her media duties citing illness. The Italian has qualified for the Finals in singles and doubles for a second consecutive season.
Here are the main talking points surrounding this year’s season finale.
Sabalenka chasing maiden Finals crown
The closest Sabalenka came to winning the WTA Finals title in any of her previous four appearances was in 2022, when she was the runner-up to Caroline Garcia in Fort Worth, Texas.
This year, she arrives in Riyadh on the back of an impressive campaign that saw her scoop four titles from eight finals reached.
She added a fourth Grand Slam trophy to her cabinet at the US Open and spent the last two weeks practicing in Dubai in preparation for her last tournament of the year in Riyadh.
Sabalenka has spoken at length about the lessons learned from her two final losses at this year’s Australian Open and Roland Garros, in which she succumbed to her emotions and frustrations.
She vindicated herself at the US Open and says she has started adopting a calmer approach when it comes to those big matches.
“When you just lose control completely, it’s not going to help you. I think that was my main lesson, no matter what, stay in control,” she told reporters in Riyadh on Friday ahead of her Sunday opener against Jasmine Paolini.
“Having those finals, having that experience, definitely helped me to stay in control at the US Open. Every time I would remember those two matches, I was like, ‘Okay, there is no chance I’m going to lose control over my emotions this time’. That experience really helped me in that final at the US Open.”
Sabalenka has secured the year-end No.1 ranking for a second consecutive year and is hoping she can finally unlock the WTA Finals puzzle.
“I think before I was thinking too much about the round-robin matches,” she explained.
“I would win a couple matches, then it was really tricky for me to play full in the third one knowing I was most likely going to qualify to the semis. That was tricky.
“I think the goal is just to completely forget about round-robin and just play like a tournament, like every match matters and you have to go and fight and not waste your energy of, like, thinking, counting, doing this math situation.”
Swiatek back on solid ground
It has also been a season of learnings for Swiatek, who had to deal with the emotional aftermath of her positive anti-doping test that resulted from ingesting a contaminated sleeping aid.
The Polish world No.2 was cleared of wrongdoing and merely served a one-month suspension but the whole ordeal took its toll on her and it affected her mindset and results.
With the help of her coach Wim Fissette, whom she hired toward the end of last season, Swiatek made significant improvements to her serve and her game on faster surfaces which finally paid off during the summer.
On her least favorite surface, Swiatek captured a sixth Grand Slam at Wimbledon and she added silverware to her resume on the hard courts of Cincinnati and Seoul.
“I had some challenges this year that really were kind of new and I needed to adjust to them a little bit more,” said the 24-year-old.
“Also I think it was the first year when I didn’t feel like I’m still young. That was also a different feeling. Overall I think winning Wimbledon made this season already super special and amazing. I would just put it over anything else, I would say.
“It was a tricky season, but at the end I can say a good one.”
Swiatek is making a fifth consecutive WTA Finals appearance and will commence her campaign on Saturday against Australian Open champion Keys.
Gauff eyeing repeat
No player has successfully defended her WTA Finals title since Serena Williams completed a threepeat in 2014.
Gauff will be looking to change that this week in Riyadh.
The reigning Roland Garros champion beat the world’s top two, Sabalenka and Swiatek, en route to the trophy in the Kingdom last year and will face stiff competition in her attempt to retain her crown.
The 21-year-old built some much-needed momentum by making the semifinals in Beijing and winning the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan in within the last few weeks and can rely on her experience of playing well in Riyadh’s altitude from 12 months ago.
Asked why she thinks this tournament has seen no repeat champions within the last decade, Gauff said: “I think, a) it’s one of those tournaments you’re not guaranteed a spot in every year. Some people win and aren’t able to even qualify. B) It’s the top eight in the world, it’s very hard to I think win this tournament in general, let alone replicate it back-to-back years.
“But yeah, I’m not thinking about that. I really just want to focus on my first match ahead and take it one match at a time. I think that’s what I did last year. Going to try to keep that mindset.”
Americans form half the field
Of the eight singles players competing in this year’s season finale, four of them are American – a first occurrence since 2002.
Anisimova is the only WTA Finals debutante in the field, which includes her compatriots Gauff, Keys and Pegula.
“That’s crazy that half of us are Americans,” said Anisimova, who reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals this season.
“It’s super exciting for US tennis. I mean, we’ve done really well this year. I’m just really proud of myself and the other girls. Yeah, hopefully we can keep going. Definitely makes us represent our country well. I think we’re doing a great job.”
Rybakina ready for ‘one last push’
In a season that saw her play without her coach Stefano Vukov as he served a suspension for breaking the WTA Code of Conduct, Rybakina punched her ticket to the WTA Finals at the very last possible moment by winning the title in Ningbo and reaching the semifinals in Tokyo within the last two weeks.
“Of course, it’s a great result because when I came to Asia, I knew of course there is still a lot of players who can qualify,” said Rybakina, who will face Anisimova in her opener on Saturday.
“Then when just last few tournaments left, of course I knew that I need to win a lot of matches in a row. You never know what’s going to happen each day. I tried to do my best. I played against tough opponents, the ones I lost before. I’m pretty glad that last few weeks went successful for me.
“Happy to be here. Ready to make last push this week.”
The former Wimbledon champion has made a change to her management set-up, forming her own company to represent herself, and says she feels more in control of her career and has more transparency working with her inner circle.
“It’s always not easy to find good people to set up the team. I had experiences with agencies. Since I’m on tour for quite a while, I understand what I need for myself in the future. This is what I’m trying to do,” she added.