Sabalenka holds off Muchova, Andreeva routs Svitolina at WTA Finals

Both favourites won their opening matches in Group 2 of the WTA Finals on Monday, but they got there in very different ways. Aryna Sabalenka needed 1 hour and 53 minutes and two tight sets to beat Karolína Muchová 7-6(2), 7-5. Mirra Andreeva started her Finals career by winning the last seven games against Elina Svitolina for a 6-4, 6-0 victory.

The season-ending event was supposed to be in Riyadh but was moved because of security concerns. It is being played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, a venue Sabalenka knows well.

Sabalenka escapes Muchová's pressure

Muchová, making her WTA Finals debut, came into the match with a 3-2 head-to-head lead over the world No. 2. She was the only player in the group with a winning record against Sabalenka. The Czech twice went a break up in the first set and had the chance to serve for it at 5-4, but each time Sabalenka broke straight back. Once the set reached a tiebreak, Sabalenka took it 7-2.

The second set was messier, with five breaks of serve. Sabalenka led 5-3, Muchová recovered to 5-5, and the Belarusian then took the last two games. It was her seventh straight match win at Indian Wells, following her title there in March as part of the Sunshine Double. During the match she also reached 300 aces for the season, becoming only the second woman to do so this year after Elena Rybakina.

Sabalenka is playing her sixth WTA Finals in a row and is still looking for her first title at the event, having lost the finals in 2022 and 2025.

Andreeva's debut turns into a rout

Andreeva, 19, and Svitolina, the 2018 champion, were close for most of the first set. The third seed got the decisive break to take it 6-4 and then won every game of the second set. She saved all six break points she faced, four of them in the final game, and finished in 70 minutes. The win avenged her loss to Svitolina at this year's Australian Open and puts her 2-1 ahead in their head-to-head.

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"I'm just super happy I was able to get a win against such an experienced player," Andreeva said afterwards. According to the WTA, it was her 51st tour-level win of the season, behind only Rybakina's 54. The age gap between the two players, 12 years and 229 days, was the largest in a match at the year-end championships since Venus Williams played Caroline Garcia in 2017.

Year-end No. 2 on the line

The results set up a direct fight for second place behind Rybakina in the year-end rankings. Before the event Sabalenka led Andreeva by 179 points, 6,485 to 6,306. Each round-robin win is worth 200 points, so Monday's results left the gap unchanged.

Sabalenka and Andreeva meet next, with Sabalenka leading their head-to-head 4-2, and the winner will move a big step closer to the semi-finals. Muchová and Svitolina, both 0-1, will need to win their meeting to stay in contention. In Group 1, Coco Gauff and Linda Nosková won their openers on Sunday.