2022 WTA Finals, Aryna Sabalenka reaches semis: Key stats
Aryna Sabalenka has joined Maria Sakkari from the Nancy Richey Group in reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 WTA Finals. Sabalenka overcame Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 in the final group stage match to reach the last four. Prior to this, she overcame Ons Jabeur before losing against Sakkari. Meanwhile, Sakkari maintained her 100% record, claiming a third straight victory by defeating Jabeur.
Key stats from the Sabalenka vs Pegula encounter
7th seed Sabalenka fired 5 aces compared to 3rd seed Pegula's one. However, both players committed a lot of double faults. Sabalenka made eight to her opponent's five. Sabalenka had an 80% win on the first serve. She also converted six out of 12 break points. She bagged a total of 80 points.
4-1 H2H record for Sabalenka over Pegula
Sabalenka now has a 32-21 win-loss record in 2022. She is yet to win a title this year. In terms of her head-to-head record versus Pegula, the tally reads 4-1 in her favor. Sabalenka has also beaten Pegula twice this year, including the Italian Open.
Sabalenka will face Swiatek in the last four
Sabalenka will take on world number one Iga Swiatek in the last four. Swiatek has won the Tracy Austin Group and will hope to pocket her 3rd successive win when she faces Coco Gauff. Notably, Swiatek has a commanding 4-1 win-loss record over Sabalenka. She also has a serious 66-8 win-loss record in 2022.
Sakkari fends off Jabeur
Sakkari overcame Jabeur 6-2, 6-3 to claim a 100% win in her group. Interestingly, Jabeur needed to beat the Greek star in straight sets to deny Sabalenka a berth in the last four. With this win, Sakkari now has a 40-22 win-loss record in 2022. Against Jabeur, her head-to-head record reads as 2-2. Prior to this match, Jabeur had beaten Sakkari in Rome.
Jabeur vs Sakkari: Match stats
Jabeur served two aces compared to Sakkari's nil. Sakkari also made more double faults (3) to her opponent's two. However, she clocked an 82% win on the first serve and converted four out of 7 break points. She won a total of 58 points.
A new record for Sakkari
As per Opta, since the current round-robin format was re-introduced in 2003, Sakkari is the 8th player to win in straight sets her 3 RR matches at the WTA Finals, joining Mauresmo, Sharapova, Henin, Zvonareva, Kvitova, Serena, and Svitolina.
