By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, November 6, 2025
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty for WTA
Fierce front-runner Aryna Sabalenka already locked up the season-ending top spot before the WTA Finals began.
Today, the world No. 1 exuded committed comeback character.
Down a break twice in the opening set, Sabalenka roared back repelling defending-champion Coco Gauff 7-6(5), 6-2 to secure her semifinal spot and knock the third-seeded American out of Riyadh.
The top-seeded Sabalenka concludes round-robin play with a 3-0 record winning the Steffi Graf Group. Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula advanced to the semifinal from the Steffi Graf Group today.
Undefeated in the Stefanie Graf Group 💪@SabalenkaA defeats Gauff 7-6, 6-2 and books her ticket to the semifinals.#WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/NCOllsRcuy
— wta (@WTA) November 6, 2025
It’s the fourth consecutive WTA Finals semifinal for Sabalenka—she’s the first woman to reach four in a row since Hall of Famer Maria Sharapova did it from 2004 to 2007—and there’s a massive reward looming at the end of the Riyadh rainbow. If the No. 1 takes the title undefeated she’ll cash a champion’s check of $5.2 million.
“I feel great,” Sabalenka told Tennis Channel’s Coco Vandeweghe in her on-court interview. “I feel like every year I would play, I would lose at least one match in round robin.
“This year I came and I take this tournament as a regular tournament. I go onto the court, I try to fight, I try to bring my best tennis and I’m super happy to get this win in straight sets.”
Earlier, the fifth-seeded Pegula dismissed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3 in 63 minutes. Rome champion Paolini, who had been bothered by an apparent cold, was not her typical feisty self throughout the tournament and went winless in round-robin play.
The 2023 finalist Pegula was all business reaching her second WTA Finals semifinal in the last three years. It was Pegula’s 26th career Top 10 win as she aims for a seventh final of the season.
Sabalenka’s sweep of Gauff, which came a day after Amanda Anisimova knocked out Iga Swiatek in a three-set thriller, means both former champions are out of the field and a new WTA Finals champion will be crowned on Saturday.
It also means two of the final four—Anisimova and Pegula—are Americans.
In tomorrow’s semifinals, Sabalenka plays the fourth-seeded Anisimova in a rematch of the US Open final, which the Belarusian won. Storming through her 19th straight tiebreaker win, Sabalenka stopped Aminisova 6-3, 7-6(3) to successfully defend her US Open championship and capture her fourth Grand Slam crown in Flushing Meadows two months ago.
Overall, Anisimova is 6-4 vs. Sabalenka, including a three-set win in the Wimbledon semifinals in July.
“We have a great history—that’s true—always great battles,” said Sabalenka. “I’m excited facing her. My mentality going to be go out there, bring everything I can, do everything possible and work hard for a dream.”
The second-semifinal pits the undefeated Rybakina against Pegula. Rybakina, like Sabalenka, can collect a $5.2 million champion’s check if she runs the table through the semifinals and final.
The 31-year-old Pegula has won three of four meetings vs. Rybakina, including a 7-5, 6-2 triumph in their most recent encounter at the 2023 WTA Finals in windy Mexico.
The subtext of today’s 12th meeting between Gauff and Sabalenka was the 21-year-old American had beaten the Belarusian in their two biggest finals. Gauff drained 70 errors from Sabalenka on a gusty Paris Saturday in a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 victory in the Roland Garros final. That came a couple of years after Gauff—and a vocal Flushing Meadows fanbase—stopped Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the 2023 US Open final.
Further, biomechanical coach Gavin MacMillan, who helped Sabalenka fix her once wayward serve, now sits in Gauff’s coaching box after joining her team a week before the US Open began.
Knowing the sometimes volatile Belarusian as well as he knows, you can bet MacMillan advised Gauff to make the power player hit an extra ball as often as possible.
At the outset, Sabalenka was too amped up, scattering seven unforced errors and wailing in extended, exaggerated grunts as Gauff broke to open then held at 15 for a 2-0 lead.
The two-time US Open champion broke back to level after four games, but Gauff, whose forehand was standing up to Sabalenka’s jolting power, broke again for 3-2 then slid an ace out wide then helped her consolidate the break for a love hold and 4-2 lead.
Throughout the set, Gauff hit almost exclusive kick serves as she did against Paolini on Tuesday and the result was much cleaner, albeit slower, serving than the 17 double faults she hit against Pegula in her round-robin opener.
Serving for the first set at 5-4, 30-0, Gauff was two points from a one set lead, but pulled back and played not to lose points instead of trying to win them.
That Gauff reticence rewarded Sabalenka’s aggression.
Deadlocked at 30-all, Sabalenka ran down a netcord shot, drop-shotted Gauff then went nose-to-nose at net bumping a backhand volley winner for break point. For the second time in the game, Gauff played a drop shot—a sign her forehand confidence may be waning—but Sabalenka ran it down shoveling a forehand pass down the line and bellowing “come on!” breaking back for 5-all.
Afterward, Sabalenka admitted her mind was already on the second set when she was two points away from losing the first.
“I was already working for the second set, to be honest,” Sabalenka said. “I was just trying to find the rhythm on her serve. I was just trying to fight, you know.
“And then somehow I was able to turn around things. I think that game gave me like an extra boost of energy and belief that I can still win this set and yeah, I did it.”
A resurgent Sabalenka stamped her second straight love hold—her 10th consecutive point on serve—to take her first lead of the day at 6-5.
Resetting, Gauff posted a confident hold at 15 to force the first-set tiebreaker.
Though Sabalenka was the more demonstrative player—and looked downright frazzled earlier in the set—the Tiebreaker Queen lived up to her reputation in the extra session with a committed comeback from 2-4 down in the breaker.
Sabalenka stoned a routine backhand volley wide from nearly on top of the net giving Gauff the early 3-1 lead. Though she extended the lead to 4-2, the defending champion unraveled in untimely errors. Gauff netted her signature shot—the two-handed backhand—and the Belarussian banged the wide serve to level at 4-all.
For much of the set, Gauff’s serve and forehand were solid shots. At 4-5, Gauff coughed up her first double fault of the day to face double set point.
The top seed torched the wide serve, creating an expanse of open space, for a flashy forehand winner to snatch the 55-minute opener.
Leaving it all on court 😤@SabalenkaA takes the first set 7-6(5) over Gauff.#WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/8PANYPuKKr
— wta (@WTA) November 6, 2025
Credit Sabalenka for calming her nerve and cracking every first serve in the breaker to improve to an outstanding 22-2 in 2025 tiebreakers.
Knowing she needed the straight-sets win to advance to the semifinals, the edge came off Gauff’s game and her forehand lapsed into spots of wildness in the second set.
Sabalenka surged through 12 of the first 15 points of the second set building a 3-0 lead she extended to 4-0.
Gauff got on the board in the fifth game then fought back from 40-love down breaking for 2-4.
That was the defending champion’s final stand. Gauff’s forehand went MIA–she was so late on one return it even missed the doubles sideline—as Sabalenka converted her fifth of six break points on the day for a 5-2 lead.
While Gauff certainly showed signs of progress on both serve and forehand to continue her evolution as a champion she’s got to grow comfortable shifting spins on her serve, mixing the kick with the slider serve, especially wide on the deuce side. Hitting the kick exclusively handcuffed the 5’4” Paolini, but Sabalenka stands half a foot taller and once she got dialed in on return she drilled some deep ones winning 11 of 18 points played on Gauff’s second serve.
On the forehand, ideally you’d like to see Gauff gradually shift her grip from full western to semi western—she already makes a grip change when attacking net to volley—but that will take time. Two immediate improvements Gauff can make is halt her tendency to jump into flying forehands which often cause her to open up on the shot and spray it and try to attack midcourt balls quickly with the topspin drive forehand whereas now she’ll sometimes opt to hit a slice forehand that works as an approach shot but isn’t often a finishing shot.
On Sabalenka’s side, she showed again today she can settle her nerve when she’s on the precipice of self-implosion and trust her shots. When Sabalenka tempers her power with patience—and whips the wide serve to set up the forehand strike as she did serving out the match today—she remains a devastating force.
