Aryna Sabalenka showed grit in her 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over Amanda Anisimova to book her place in the final of the WTA Finals.
It is the second time Sabalenka is in the final of the WTA Finals but overcame a huge scare from Anisimova in order to get through.
There were lots of long games in a one hour opening set but just like she has done for most of the year, Sabalenka prevailed in the pressure points to break twice and claim the opening set.
However, the two-time Grand Slam finalist wasn’t about to give up as Anisimova was looking for revenge from the US Open final and a quick double break lead was produced by the fourth seed.
Despite being broken in the eighth game, Anisimova remained calm and composed as she broke again to level the match up at one set all.
Some world class tennis was produced in the early stages of the deciding set as Anisimova saved break point in the third game to take a 2-1 lead.
As the set went on, both players took more and more risks as a place in the final was on the line.
Some sensational tennis saw Sabalenka break for a 4-3 lead but that wasn’t the end of the match just yet as Anisimova hunted the world number one and looked to break again.
The world number one was flawless in the big moments and saved break point to take a 5-3 lead before sealing the match with another break of serve.
Now Sabalenka aims to win the WTA Finals for the first time in her career when she faces Elena Rybakina in the final.
The Kazakh came back from a set down to defeat Jessica Pegula 4-6 6-4 6-3 and reach the final in Riyadh.
After the match Rybakina admitted the serve helped her as she hit 16 aces during the contest, “It was such a tough battle, it’s always very difficult to play against Jessica,” Rybakina was quoted by flashscore as saying.
“She started pretty well, I was a bit slow. She broke me, it was not easy to come back, but I’m glad I managed to find my way in the second set and win it in this three-set battle.
“Definitely the serve, when I needed it, it helped me. I was trying to stay focused each point, we had some tough rallies. I’m really happy in the end I managed to push myself a bit more and won it.”
Heading into Saturday’s final Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 8-5 with Sabalenka winning two of the three matches this year.
