Sabalenka ends Gauff’s title hopes

MANILA, Philippines — Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula both advanced to the Last 4 of the WTA Finals with straight-sets victories in Riyadh on Thursday.

The top-seeded Sabalenka ended the title defense of Coco Gauff by defeating the American 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in the closing match of the round-robin stage at King Saud University Indoor Arena.

With a perfect 3-0 record, Belarus’ Sabalenka finished atop the Stefanie Graf Group, while Pegula secured the runner-up spot with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Italian eighth seed Jasmine Paolini.

Sabalenka set up a US Open final rematch with fourth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova, while Pegula will take on sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in Friday’s semifinals.

“I’m super excited to face her in the semis,” said Sabalenka, who lost to Anisimova in the Wimbledon semifinals.

In what was the 12th career meeting between them, Sabalenka twice erased a one-break deficit against Gauff to force a tiebreak.