Aryna Sabalenka was close to suffering back-to-back defeats to Jessica Pegula before pulling off a third-set comeback to beat the world No. 5 6-4 2-6 6-4 and improve to 2-0 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Sabalenka, who was beaten by Pegula in the Wuhan semifinal in mid-October, opened an early 5-2 lead but failed to serve out for the opener in the ninth game. However, the world No. 1 still clinched the first set by breaking the American in the 10th game.
Down by a set, the American tennis star stormed through the second set by earning two breaks and not losing her serve once.
After forcing a decider, Pegula continued with her strong play at the start of the third set and broke Sabalenka in the third game to go 2-1 up. Just when it seemed that the whole momentum was on the American's side, the Belarusian tennis star impressively responded by taking the next four games to overturn the deficit and open a 5-2 lead before closing out the match on her serve two games later.
Sabalenka owns a perfect record but she still not qualified for the WTA Finals semifinal
The top-ranked Belarusian, who defeated Jasmine Paolini in straight sets in her opening WTA Finals match, will still need to win one set against Coco Gauff in her last group-stage match to ensure finishing at the top spot in her group.
In her pre-tournament presser, Sabalenka admitted that she would like to finally win the WTA Finals and add the prestigious season-ending tournament to her resume.
Meanwhile, Pegula stands at 1-1 ahead of her group-stage finale versus Paolini - the Italian has a 0-2 record.
