CANCUN: Aryna Sabalenka’s bid to clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking was put on hold on Thursday night when her WTA Finals round-robin match against Elena Rybakina was suspended in the second set because of rain.
With the winner headed to the semifinals at the season-ending championship and the loser eliminated, Sabalenka took the opening set 6-1. Rybakina was about to serve for the second while ahead 5-3 when the latest in a series of showers interrupted play after 11:30 p.m. local time. After waiting to see whether the weather would clear up, organizers decided to call things off and push back the resumption until Friday afternoon.
There were a half-dozen rain delays that halted action for around two hours in total — and one spectator held up a sign reading, “No more rain!!!” The longest break lasted 1 hour, 10 minutes early in the second set.
Sabalenka vs Rybakina was a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final. Sabalenka won that matchup in January for her first Grand Slam title.
Earlier in the day, Jessica Pegula finished her round-robin singles play with a 3-0 record a year after going 0-3 at the season-ending championship, heading to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Maria Sakkari.
Pegula already had clinched first place in the four-player group by virtue of earlier straight-set victories against Sabalenka and Rybakina on the outdoor hard court built for the event.
The fifth-seeded Pegula extended her overall winning streak to eight matches, including a title at the Korean Open last month.
The 29-year-old American has won all six sets she’s played in Cancun so far.
“Getting through 3-0 is really kind of a cool accomplishment,” Pegula said, “Especially coming off of last year, where it was the opposite.”
Sakkari, who is ranked No. 9 but got into the eight-player field when No. 8 Karolina Muchova withdrew with an injured right wrist, went 0-3 and dropped every set.
“That’s not the way I wanted my season to end,” Sakkari said. “I think that physically and mentally, I was paying a toll for how much I traveled and how much I played and how emotional this season was.”
Pegula had fewer winners than Sakkari, 12-7, but also made roughly half as many unforced errors, 35-18, on a windy evening. Pegula’s doubles match with partner Coco Gauff was postponed because of the rain. Agencies
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