Aryna Sabalenka faces stacked WTA Finals field in bid to crown season in style

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Your help makes all of the distinction. Learn extra The WTA Finals prides itself because the “crown jewel” of its season and a stacked version of the eight-player year-end event presents no scarcity of star high quality. Aryna Sabalenka is already assured to complete the season at No 1 on this planet, and a dominant one at that after profitable the US Open. However a yr that noticed three different grand slam champions ensures she's going to face intense competitors in her bid to win the Finals for the primary time, and take house the largest prize cash of the season at a most of $5,235,000 - $235,000 greater than her cheque for profitable the US Open.

Sabalenka has been drawn into a bunch with French Open champion Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini. Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek is the second seed and can play Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina and Australian Open champion Madison Keys within the different round-robin, with the highest two gamers from every group advancing to the semi-finals. In addition to the 4 completely different grand slam champions, the competitors for the ultimate 4 locations within the Finals went right down to the wire. With a late surge from Rybakina, Paolini certified with a minuscule six extra factors than Mirra Andreeva, a two-time WTA 1000 champion this season at Indian Wells and Dubai.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/31/13/41/WTA-Finals-portrait.jpeg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/31/13/41/WTA-Finals-portrait.jpeg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/31/13/41/WTA-Finals-portrait.jpeg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="The eight players competing in Riyadh pose for the WTA Finals portrait" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

The eight gamers competing in Riyadh pose for the WTA Finals portrait (Yumna Al-Arashi / WTA) Sabalenka’s victory on the US Open turned a constant however irritating season on the grand slams into a press release from the World No 1, and a primary WTA Finals title would emphasise that. She is going to face a rematch of the French Open ultimate when she performs Gauff, who's the reigning WTA Finals champion, and the primary time they've met since burying the hatchet over the ungracious method of Sabalenka’s post-final feedback at Roland Garros. Pegula pushed Sabalenka shut on the US Open semi-finals, with the American then beating her in Wuhan. Paolini reached two grand slam finals in 2024 however her follow-up yr has been spectacular too, profitable her house Italian Open and main Italy to the Billie Jean King Cup. The 29-year-old likes to defy expectations.

And the place will we discover Gauff? The American’s victory over Sabalenka within the Roland Garros ultimate was the spotlight of her season however it was adopted by a first-round exit at Wimbledon and a troublesome expertise on the US Open the place she was trying to repair her troublesome serve mid-tournament. For the reason that finish of the grand slam season, the 21-year-old has switched gears mentally and is constructing once more in direction of January’s Australian Open. It led to her second greatest title of the season on the Wuhan WTA 1000, the place she defeated Pegula within the ultimate. All of a sudden, Gauff appears to be like like she is usually a contender once more.

In some methods, the participant of the season on the WTA Tour is Anisimova, who's the one participant to be making her debut on the Finals. She started the season unseeded on the Australian Open however her big-hitting recreation then caught hearth. The American’s victory over Swiatek within the US Open quarter-finals, just some weeks over dropping 6-0 6-0 to the identical participant within the Wimbledon ultimate, was one of many performances and tales of the season. Regardless of two defeats in grand slam finals this season, the 24-year-old has additionally received WTA 1000 titles, together with in Beijing throughout the Asian swing. If Anisimova comes out swinging, she is usually a contender - though one of many curiosities of the week is that she might be enjoying Rybakina and Keys for the primary time in her profession.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/31/13/09/GettyImages-2239474267.jpeg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/31/13/09/GettyImages-2239474267.jpeg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/31/13/09/GettyImages-2239474267.jpeg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="Anisimova can be a contender after reaching two grand slam finals in 2025" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

Anisimova is usually a contender after reaching two grand slam finals in 2025 (Getty Photos) Keys might be returning to motion after taking two months off following her first-round defeat on the US Open, together with her place within the Finals lengthy secured after her fairytale Australian Open triumph in January. On the alternative finish of the dimensions is former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who punched her ticket after discovering some type with a late run of outcomes. For Rybakina, the last word check might be in opposition to Swiatek, who has received all 4 of their matches since season. Martina Navratilova, the tennis nice, known as Swiatek’s season an “enigma” by her earlier requirements - nobody fairly noticed her Wimbledon title coming, whereas outcomes elsewhere have been blended.

WTA Finals draw Stefanie Graf Group: Aryna Sabalenka (1), Coco Gauff (3), Jessica Pegula (5), Jasmine Paolini (8)

Serena Williams Group: Iga Swiatek (2), Amanda Anisimova (4), Elena Rybakina (6), Madison Keys (7)

The WTA Finals, in the meantime, has reached the second version of its three-year cope with Saudi Arabia, which has strengthened its ties to tennis in current weeks by asserting a brand new ATP Masters occasion from 2028. Riyadh stepped in following a disastrous WTA Finals held in Cancun, Mexico in 2023, with the WTA asserting the nation’s first skilled ladies’s tennis occasion regardless of criticism from former gamers Navratilova and Chris Evert over its human rights document. Attendances on non-weekend days finally yr’s event in Riyadh have been extraordinarily low - with just some hundred folks in a 5,000-capacity indoor enviornment for some spherical robin matches.

“We're bringing tennis to a brand new viewers and that takes time to construct,” the WTA mentioned final yr. "Our purpose is to develop the WTA Finals and construct attendance over the time period of the three-year partnership.” The celebs on show within the “crown jewel” of the tour and the largest prize pot of the season deserves a crowd and environment to match.