The fifth seed Pegula won the second match at the Tournament of Champions and still did not lose a set. In the match with the winner of this year’s Australian Open, she helped herself with five aces and 14 winning balls. Sabalenková committed 29 unforced errors.
Pegula defeated Sabalenkova after four previous defeats and adjusted the balance of the matches to 2:4. “I feel better this year when I get to play with the best. I’m more confident,” Pegula told the WTA website.
“I’ve always been good at beating the players ranked below me, but now you have to beat the one or two ahead of you. This year I believe in these matches, that’s why I won more. I feel like I’ve gotten a little better at it,” added the Buffalo native.
After Rybakin’s win over Sakkari, Pegula secured her place in the top four. Last year’s Wimbledon winner Rybakin gave Sakkari a “canary” in the beginning, but the 28-year-old Greek then leveled the duel. After almost two and a half hours of play, the third set was decided by a tie-break, which the Moscow native won 7:2.
“In the beginning, maybe it took Maria a while to get used to my speed. As we all know, the surface here is not exactly the best and we all struggle with it,” said Rybakinová.
The tournament four will compete for the second promotion place with last year’s finalist of the Tournament of Champions Sabalenkova. “Now it will be about the winner moving on and the loser going home. It will be the same as in all other tournaments. It won’t be easy, but I will try to do my best,” added Rybakinová.
Tennis Tournament of Champions in Cancun (hard surface, subsidy 9,000,000 dollars): Singles: Group Bacalar: Pegulaová (5-USA) – Sabalenkova (1-Bel.) 6:4, 6:3 Rybakinová (4-Kaz.) – Sakkariová (8 -Greek) 6:0, 6:7 (4:7), 7:6 (7:2) 1. Pegulaová 2204: 022. Sabalenková 2112: 213. Rybakinová 2112: 314. Sakkariová 2021: 40
2023-11-01 23:30:00
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