(Cancun) Jessica Pegula improved her record to 48-0 in 2023 after winning the first set, defeating Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-2 on Sunday night in the first match of the WTA Finals.
Neither player had previously won a match at these end-of-season championships on the WTA Tour. Pegula was 0-3 in Texas last year, while Rybakina is making her debut at this tournament which features the eight best players in the world.
Ranked fifth in the world, Pegula trailed 5-3 in the first set and Rybakina was serving. The American, however, broke her opponent and won four games in a row to take the first set. She then put herself in a position to be successful.
It was the 42e victory on hard court for Pegula this season, a high in the WTA.
Both players hit 12 winning shots. Pegula committed only 16 unforced errors compared to 35 for Rybakina.
Rybakina is the fourth racket in the world, after triumphing at the Wimbledon tournament in 2022, and after being a finalist at the Australian Open in January.
First racket in the world, Aryna Sabalenka arrives this year with the objective of recovering from her defeat in the final last year, against Caroline Garcia.
Sabalenka faced Maria Sakkari for her first match. The favorite had no difficulty, winning the first 11 games of the match to finally defeat her opponent 6-0, 6-1.
Sabalenka will want to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2013-14 to reach the tournament final in two consecutive years.
Sakkari is ranked ninth in the world, but was added to the squad in Cancun when French Open finalist Karolina Muchova, ranked eighth in the world, withdrew due to a right wrist injury.
The WTA announced in September that it would hold the tournament in Cancun following a one-year agreement.
Pegula was back on the field at the end of the evening with her usual partner Coco Gauff.
The two Americans, favorites for the doubles title of the WTA Finals, however began their tournament with a defeat of 7-6 (2), 6-3 against the duo formed by the Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and the New Zealander Erin Routliffe.