Aryna Sabalenka told she did something very ‘peculiar’ against Coco Gauff as she falls to defeat at the WTA Finals
Aryna Sabalenka told she did something very ‘peculiar’ against Coco Gauff as she falls to defeat at the WTA Finals
Laura Robson was left confused by Aryna Sabalenka’s performance against Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals.
After beginning the tournament with two victories, the World number one suffered two successive defeats and is now out of the season-ending championships.
Sabalenka suffered a 6-7(4), 3-6 defeat to Gauff, who will compete in the WTA Finals championship match for the first time against Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng.
Though Sabalenka is ending the 2024 season with two Grand Slams and the year-end number one ranking, she will be disappointed with how the year has ended.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during her semi-final match against Coco Gauff of USA, on Day 7 of the 2024 WTA Finals, part of the Hologic WTA Tour, he…
Coco Gauff won a competitive match by producing more solid tennis at the most important moments. She converted six of her 11 break points and crucially, the American won more than half the points behind first and second serve and committed just two double faults.
Laura Robson was left surprised by Sabalenka’s performance with her forehand, which was erratic. Sabalenka committed a plethora of unforced errors on that side, including 18 in the first set.
This continued in set two and post-match the 2008 Wimbledon junior champion admitted her shock at how unreliable Sabalenka’s forehand was against Gauff.
“The forehand was just peculiar for me,” Robson told Sky Sports. “We are so used to seeing Sabalenka playing her best these days on those big points, that’s when she goes for even more but it generally goes in.
“That is why she is number one in the world. But today she was just miss-firing and miss-timing. It looked like she was off balance quite a lot on the forehand side.
“We saw early on that she was trying to slide into her forehand from almost the middle of the court at times and you thought ‘this is a bit interesting’.
“From then on it was like she lost confidence in that shot, because she started to play backhands from that side. You barely ever see that because she trusts her forehand so much.”
Coco Gauff of the United States celebrates while playing Aryna Sabalenka during the semifinals on Day 7 of the WTA Finals Riyadh as part of the Hol…
2024 has been a rollercoaster season for Gauff, and the summer months were arguably the most challenging of her career.
The 20-year-old suffered early defeats at Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and throughout the North American swing, which culminated in a fourth round loss at the US Open.
But since failing her title in New York, Gauff has hired a new coach, suffered just one defeat and is into the final of the WTA Finals for the first time.
The World number three has spoken of the desire to improve her serve and was pleased with how she overcame Sabalenka to reach the final in Riyadh.
“I knew I had worked hard on my serve since [Wuhan],” Gauff said. “That was 21 free points that I gave. I knew if I could cut that in half, I would give myself a better chance and obviously I did well over that today.
“Obviously she’s a great player, but I just felt like if I can just play well and serve well, I had a good chance. And once, you know, I stepped on the court and realised I was feeling my serve, I just kind of had that belief that I can win.”
