No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus had little trouble getting past China’s Qinwen Zheng in a group stage match at the WTA Finals on Saturday, winning 6-3, 6-4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sabalenka finished with just three aces to Zheng’s eight, but she won 31 of 33 points in the first and rallied from deficits of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 in the second set.

“I’m super happy with the win, especially against Qinwen,” Sabalenka said. “It’s always tough matches, tough battles against her, and I’m really… happy that I was able to finish this match in straight sets.”

Eight players are currently competing in two round-robin groups at the WTA Finals: the Purple Group and the Orange Group. Sabalenka and Zheng are in the Purple Group, along with fourth-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Defending champion and No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, Americans Coco Gauff (third seed) and Jessica Pegula (sixth seed) and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, seeded eighth, form the Orange Group.

The best two players from each group will play in the semi-finals, which are scheduled for Friday. The final is scheduled for next Saturday.

No one from the Oranjegroep took the court on Saturday, but Paolini and Rybakina were in action, with Paolini coming away with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 sweep.

It was Paolini’s first career win at the WTA Finals. She took advantage of a rather rusty Rybakina, who had not played a match since the US Open.

“I didn’t really know what to expect because she hasn’t played since (the US Open),” Paolini said. “But I knew she was going to serve very well here. So I was ready to fight, especially in my service game, I tried to be focused every service game and be close to the score. And I said to myself: ‘If you opportunity, you should try to break her”.

Still, Rybakina is optimistic she can make some noise at the WTA Finals.

“Overall, I think it was a good match,” she said. “I think that such a break is not too bad, the level of my game after only two and a half weeks of preparation. I am looking forward to the next match and hopefully I can do better.”

Hong Kong Tennis Open

No. 2 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain advanced to her third final of the year after beating No. 6 seed Yuan Yue of China 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in China.

She won in San Diego and Nottingham earlier this season and will face top-seeded Diana Shnaider of Russia for the title on Sunday. Boulter won 68 percent of the points (40 of 59) on her first serve and also converted six of fifteen break opportunities.

Shnaider has three career titles to her name this entire season. She continued by beating Canada’s third seed Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2 behind five break points in 87 minutes.

Jiangxi opened

Unseeded Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland upset top seed Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 6-2 to reach the final in Jiujiang, China.

The Czech dominated in the first three rounds, winning each match in straight sets, but was ousted by Golubic thanks to eight service breaks from the Swiss in the 77-minute match.

In the final, Golubic will face No. 2 seed Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, who defeated Germany’s Laura Siegemund 7-6 (4), 6-2. Sramkova saved 12 of 15 break points while breaking the German’s serve five times. Sramkova is in her fourth final this season and wins in Hua Hin.

Merida Open Akron

Russia’s Alina Korneeva earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo in the quarterfinals in Merida, Mexico.

Korneeva, 17, saved 10 of 12 break points in the win. She also converted 6 of 6 break points.

Sorribes Tormo quickly fell into deep holes in both sets and fell behind 5-1 in the opener, before falling 4-0 behind in the second set.

–Field-level media