JUST IN: Aryna Sabalenka set to be suspended after her weird message message on Coco Gauff after defeating her to reach WTA semi-final in Riyadh
It’s been the perfect tournament for Aryna Sabalenka as her win over Coco Gauff secured an undefeated round-robin phase.
The world number one now has WTA Finals glory in her sights and will look to win the trophy for the first time in her career. Standing in Sabalenka’s way is arch nemesis Amanda Anisimova who defeated Iga Swiatek to dump the Pole out of the tournament and battle her way to the last four.
It has been a good season for Sabalenka who will end the year as world number one after a consistently impressive season.
After an undefeated round-robin phase, Sabalenka will now aim to win a trophy that she is yet to win in her career which is the WTA Finals.
Next for Sabalenka is close nemesis
Anisimova who had started the tournament poorly but has qualified for the semi-finals after defeating Swiatek.
Now, Anisimova looks to continue her fighting spirit and cap off her sensational year with another big final.
After her win over Gauff, Sabalenka praised her serve in big moments as she was forced to dig deep against the American.
“I was thinking, `OK, there is nothing to lose,’ Sabalenka told the WTA website.
“And I was going big on my serves. It really helped me to find my rhythm. After that game I was serving much better. Yeah, that was a great decision to go big and try to find the rhythm.
“I was already working for the second set, to be honest. Something clicked and I was able to break and that game gave me a lot of confidence that I still got it in this set. And yeah, super happy to get this win.”
Meanwhile Anisimova spoke about trying to enjoy her winners take all match against Swiatek.
“No, I don’t think I was surprised or shocked at any point in the match,” Anisimova explained to the WTA website.
“I knew it was going to be really tough, and I was preparing for that. Yeah, I think I just tried to enjoy it. I feel like I belong at this point and I’ve played a lot of tough matches this year. I know my capabilities. And I know if I can play my best tennis, I can give it my best shot.”
Sabalenka will aim to dominate on the serve and will look to nullify Anisimova’s game with a mixture of variety and power.
Meanwhile, Anisimova will use the backhand to put Sabalenka on the backfoot as the American looks to dictate play.
This will be a tense match between two big-hitters who know how to play the big points well.
However, Sabalenka should have too much consistent quality for an under-par Anisimova.
Prediction: Sabalenka in three sets.
