When it comes to navigating a path out of the group stages of the WTA Finals, the value of a decent poker face should not be underestimated. Aryna Sabalenka, who needed a straight-sets win to maximise her chances of advancing to the semi-finals for the first time, certainly attempted to play her cards close to her chest after seeing off Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 to claim her second win in Fort Worth.
The Belarusian’s victory meant that Ons Jabeur, up against the already-qualified Maria Sakkari, also needed to win in two sets, with second place in Nancy Richey Group then decided by percentage of games won. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of round-robin tennis. Don’t forget your calculator.
At an event where the players have spent a week living in each other’s pockets, there has been a notable esprit de corps – and Sabalenka, who in common with just about everyone else on the WTA Tour regards Jabeur as a friend, was not about to rock the boat. Insisting she was relaxed about the final outcome – although she was surely fooling no one – Sabalenka said she would resist any temptation to cheer on Sakkari from the stands.
“Cheering for Sakkari? I was thinking about that, but it’s not right I think,” she laughed. “I did everything that was under my control and now, whatever happens, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll take a lot of positive things from this tournament and move on. But still, I really hope that I’ll get through this group.”
In keeping with the convivial mood, Jabeur mischievously wished her rival good luck beforehand, albeit with what Sabalenka described as “an interesting face”. As for the outcome not mattering, Sabalenka certainly cared enough to ask Sakkari, whose outstanding form over the week meant there was nothing riding on her showdown with Jabeur, how ready she felt.
“It was a very weird situation for all three of us,” said Sakkari. “I had both players that are very good friends of mine having a chance to make it.
“[Sabalenka] asked me before the match if I’m ready. She was like, ‘On a scale of one to 10, how ready are you?’ I said, ‘11.’ But not for her, just in general for the match. It was funny. I think she was pretty relaxed. She got the win today and it was all up to me, I guess.”
Well, yes and no. While Sabalenka did her part, recovering to see out victory after double-faulting three times as she served for the match against Pegula at 5-3 in the second set, Jabeur was partly the architect of her own downfall. Eleven unforced errors in the opening set effectively extinguished the Tunisian’s hopes of advancing, even if a love break as the Greek served for the opener at 5-1 did briefly rekindle memories of Jabeur’s comeback from 6-1, 5-2 down against Sakkari in Rome earlier this year.
That, though, was a very different Sakkari. Buoyed by last month’s run to the final in Guadalajara, where she became the last player to qualify for Fort Worth courtesy of a quarter-final win over Veronika Kudermetova, the 27-year-old has put an otherwise chequered season behind her this week. She was never in trouble against Jabeur, maintaining her unblemished progress through the group with a 6-2, 6-3 victory that, crucially, ensures she will avoid top seed Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals. Whatever happens from here, Sakkari’s belated return to the kind of free-swinging form that carried her to the French and US Open semi-finals last year augurs well for 2023.
“I believe that I played my best tennis when I was very aggressive,” she said. “Obviously then, when you lose your confidence, you start doubting and start being more defensive, and just taking a few steps backwards from the baseline.
“My goal was never to be a defensive player. I have the ability to be a very offensive player, and just being very aggressive. I think that just adding a little bit more, going to the net for the next season, will be the key for me, just closing out points a little bit easier. It’s going to make my life a lot easier.
“But I had to go back to basics after the blip that I had. I had to go back to making a lot of balls and then work my way [towards] being more aggressive. I think that’s what I did the last few months.”
While Sakkari’s renascent form in Texas has been almost as eye-catching as Swiatek’s, a thought should be spared for the vanquished.
Jabeur’s failure to catch fire on a court that appeared naturally suited to her game is perhaps the week’s biggest surprise. Having won her first WTA 1000 title in Madrid and gone on to reach the Wimbledon and US Open finals, the 28-year-old has not only compiled the most consistent season of her career but also established herself as the most credible (if still distant) challenger to Swiatek’s supremacy. In Texas, however Jabeur, who came within two points of victory against Sabalenka in her opening match and showed glimpses of her usual self against Pegula, has underwhelmed. It is a failure she intends to address.
“I’m going to be tougher with myself,” said Jabeur. “I want to improve a lot of things. I want to be ready for the next [season].
“I’m not going to tell my secret, but there are a lot of things that I want to improve – mentally, physically definitely, there’s always things to improve there. Tennis-wise I just want to be really rock solid and difficult to beat.”
Someone who has most definitely been difficult to beat in recent times is Pegula. The 28-year-old arrived in Fort Worth fresh from claiming the biggest title of her career in Guadalajara, a result that propelled her to a career-high ranking of third. Widely regarded as a dark horse for the title, the New Yorker came up short not only in her three singles matches but also in the doubles alongside Coco Gauff, where she likewise failed to register a win.
It has been a sobering experience for both Americans – with only Swiatek to play, Gauff too has yet to win a singles match – but Pegula, who revealed that she has been feeling under the weather, was characteristically equanimous.
“It was a little rough today, I didn’t really feel 100%, I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of days. I feel like the crowd was getting behind me, so I feel bad, but I didn’t quite have the energy to use the crowd as much as I wanted to, especially being [at] home. I tried my best.
“I had a great year this year. I’m bummed about this week, but I think I have to look at the positives throughout the whole year and take that into the off-season and my training going into Australia – which is crazy, already talking about that. But that’s tennis for you, I guess it’s a quick turnaround.”