Sabalenka Battles Through Nerves to Win WTA Finals Opener
Aryna Sabalenka did not so much start her WTA Finals campaign as wrestle it into submission.
The world number two fought herself, the sun, the shadows and a stubborn Karolina Muchova, yet still found a way to grind out a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 win in her opening group match. It was tight, it was scrappy, and at times it was downright ragged. But it was a win. At this stage of a long, uneven season, that matters more than the aesthetics.
This is Sabalenka’s sixth appearance at the season-ending showpiece, and still she chases a first title. With world number one Elena Rybakina withdrawing on the eve of the event, the draw has tilted her way. These are the same courts where she lifted the Indian Wells trophy in March. On paper, this is her moment.
On court, it looked anything but straightforward.
A battle with herself
Sabalenka’s serve, usually a weapon, flickered in and out like a faulty light. Seven double faults, just four aces. The numbers told the story of a player constantly recalibrating. She landed 59% of her first serves and, when they went in, they did damage – she won 33 of 44 points behind them. The problem was getting them there.
“It was a bit tricky with the sun [and] with the shade,” she told Sky Sports. “Sometimes I had to adjust my toss, sometimes I had to serve blind, but it's all part of the game.”
The frustration showed. Gestures to her box, muttered words under her breath, the familiar storm building. Yet this time, it never quite broke. Point by point, she tightened the screws, especially off the forehand wing, which grew heavier and more reliable as the match wore on.
Across the net, Muchova – Wimbledon runner-up and the only player in this field with a winning record against Sabalenka – had her chances. Plenty of them.
The Czech struck first in the opening set, breaking Sabalenka and briefly quietening the arena. It set a pattern that would run through the match: Muchova edges ahead, Sabalenka hauls her back. When Muchova served for the first set, her game disintegrated at the worst possible moment. Errors crept in, then multiplied. The set slipped into a tie-break, and there Sabalenka pounced, storming through it 7-2 as Muchova’s forehand deserted her.
The second set lurched from one momentum swing to another. Five breaks of serve, nerves on both sides, no rhythm to cling to. Sabalenka broke, got broken, broke again. Serving for the match the first time, she faltered. The second time, she didn’t. It was not clean, but it was cold-blooded.
For a player who has lived this season on a knife edge, it felt fitting.
A strange season, a hard edge
By Sabalenka’s own lofty standards, 2025 has been oddly shaped. For the first time since 2022, she will finish the year without a Grand Slam singles title. She reached the finals of the Australian Open and US Open, only to be denied both times by Rybakina. Her last title came back in March in Miami. The Asian swing brought just one win from three matches, prompting her to step away briefly before regrouping for these Finals.
The question coming in was simple: did she have anything left in the tank?
On Monday, the answer was not emphatic, but it was clear enough. She still has the fight. The polish can wait.
Andreeva makes a statement
If Sabalenka had to grind, Mirra Andreeva simply sliced through.
The French Open champion delivered a brutal, businesslike 6-4 6-0 win over Elina Svitolina later in the day, a performance that underlined why so many see her as the sport’s next long-term ruler.
The teenager, who beat Sabalenka in the 2025 Indian Wells final, needed just 77 minutes to dismantle the Ukrainian. After a competitive first set, Andreeva shifted gear and never looked back, reeling off seven straight games as Svitolina’s level sagged.
The Russian’s backhand, already one of the most feared shots on tour, anchored her dominance. She saved all six break points she faced – four of them in a tense final game – and finished with nine winners to 12 unforced errors, a tidy ratio given the pace she generated. Svitolina, by contrast, sprayed too many balls long and wide, unable to disrupt Andreeva’s rhythm once the teenager locked in.
On a day when Sabalenka had to drag her game up to standard, Andreeva started there and stayed there. The contrast did not go unnoticed.
British interest: Norrie and Samuel progress
Away from the Finals, Cameron Norrie found smoother waters in Stockholm.
The Briton eased past Australia’s James Duckworth 7-5 6-0 to reach the second round of the Stockholm Open, sharpening his form ahead of this month’s Davis Cup Finals. After edging a tight first set, Norrie accelerated through the second, shutting Duckworth out completely.
Next comes top seed Taylor Fritz, a far sterner examination and exactly the kind of test Norrie needs if he is to carry any real threat into the Davis Cup campaign.
At the same event, fellow Briton Toby Samuel enjoyed a breakthrough of his own, beating Leo Borg – son of 11-time Grand Slam singles champion Bjorn – 6-3 6-2. The name across the net carried history; Samuel treated it like any other scalp.
Back at the WTA Finals, though, the narrative is already taking shape. Sabalenka has survived her first test. Andreeva has laid down a marker. With Rybakina out of the picture, the title feels wide open – but after a day like this, you wonder whether it will be the seasoned contender or the fearless teenager who seizes it.
