Day 6 of the WTA Tour Finals saw the completion of matches in the Chichén-Itzá group. The day session saw Iga Swiatek bring Paula Badosa undefeated run at this tournament to an end, while the night session saw a do or die match between Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari.

Iga Swiatek (POL) vs. Paula Badosa (ESP)

Iga Swiatek ended her tournament on a high, finally getting a win on the board and ending Badosa’s undefeated run at this tournament with a straight sets win.

The first set was a tight affair. Badosa was able to nab an early break, but Swiatek managed to fight back and win the set 7-5.

Apart from the aces count, which Badosa comfortably won 3-0, the stats across the board were also tight.

Swiatek’s first serve percentage was only 56.8 per cent, while Badosa’s was not that far behind at only 50 per cent.

The first and second serve points won percentage were also pretty even too.

Swiatek’s first serve points won was 71.4 per cent compared to Badosa’s 66.7 per cent, while Swiatek’s second serve points won was at 56.3 per cent compared to Badosa’s 50 per cent.

The second set was also a tight affair, with Swiatek taking it 6-4.

Badosa got an early break again, and managed to consolidate it at 3-1, but Swiatek then broke back to level it at four all, then went on to take the set.

Despite hitting four double faults, Badosa managed to bring her first serve percentage up significantly to 66 per cent, while Swiatek’s dropped to 53.8 per cent. Swiatek did manage to win more points off the first serve in the second set, but her second serve points won percentage dropped to only 50 per cent.

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) vs. Maria Sakkari (GRE)

It was a do or die match for both players, with the winner to progress on to the semi-finals and the loser’s tournament ending. The previous head to head suggested Sabalenka would win after having won the previous four matches between the pair, but Sakkari had other ideas.

The opening set was a close affair, with a tiebreaker needed to split the pair, which Sakkari won.

The opening set stats told a similar story.

Although Sabalenka had the higher first serve percentage and first serve points won percentage, it was only by 3.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

Both players struggled to win points off the second serve, with Sakkari’s percentage only at 38.9 per cent and Sabalenka’s was even lower at 27.3 per cent. Both player’s serves were quite the dichotomy, with both the aces and double faults count high for both players. Sabalenka served five double faults and five aces and Sakkari served four double aces and a whopping six aces.

The second set was just as even. Sabalenka broke ahead to take the lead 5-3, but then Sakkari broke back to level the match at 5-5. Another tiebreaker was needed to split the pair, but this time Sabalenka won the tiebreaker and the set.

Both players’ first serve percentage dropped from first set to second, and Sabalenka’s first serve points won percentage also dropped. Sakkari managed to increase her first serve points won percentage, but could not do so for her second serve points won percentage, which Sabalenka managed to do.

Both players had error riddled serves once again, with Sabalenka serving four double faults and Sakkari served three.

The third set was a slightly less even affair as Sakkari was able to break away and win the set 6-3 to take the match and book her place in the semi-final.

Sabalenka’s serve continued to be error riddled, registering a whopping 10 double faults in the final set. Her first serve percentage dropped significantly too, down to only 48.6 per cent for the final set. Sakkari’s first serve percentage dropped a little to, but not as much as Sabalenka’s.

The result ended the tournament for the top seed Sabalenka, who finishes inside the top 10 in the world for a second year running.

WTA FINALS DAY 6 RESULTS:

[5] Iga Swiatek (POL) defeated [7] Paula Badosa (ESP) 7-5 6-4
[4] Maria Sakkari (GER) defeated [1] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 7-6 6-7 6-3

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