Women's WTA Finals Start off in Riyadh

Riyadh, November 03, 2024, SPA -- The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals started on Saturday in the indoor arena at King Saud University.
Vice Minister of Sport Bader Alkadi was present at the opening of the event, which is held here between November 2 and 9, is organized by the Saudi Tennis Federation, supervised by the Ministry of Sport, and sponsored by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
On the first day of the tournament, which features 8 players in the singles category and 8 teams in the doubles category, two matches were held: American duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Ellen Perez achieved their first victory in the doubles category, winning in two sets against the Taiwanese player Hsieh Su-Wei and Belgian Elise Mertens; and Czech player Katerina Siniakova and American partner Taylor Townsend pulled off a major upset, defeating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok in two sets to one.
In the singles category, Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka, ranked first in the world, secured a victory against Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, winning in straight sets. This marked the first match of the tournament in this category. Meanwhile, Italian player Jasmine Paolini triumphed in the second match against Kazakh player Elena Rybakina, also winning in straight sets.
Sabalenka praised the level of organization of the tournament during the post-match press conference, and thanked the Kingdom “for this wonderful organization, which reflects its excellence in hosting global events. I am also happy with this victory, especially against Qinwen, as matches against her are always challenging. However, the mental aspect was the decisive factor in the match and contributed to my success, in addition to the support from the crowd, which intensified the competition”.
The WTA Finals in Riyadh represent the concluding stage of the 2024 tennis season; total prize money exceeds $15 million.
-- SPA