The Albany Gazette - Calmer Sabalenka sets sights on WTA Finals crown

The 27-year-old Belarusian has secured the year-end number one ranking for a second consecutive season, thanks to a strong 2025 campaign that saw her clinch four titles from eight finals reached.

After suffering heartbreaking defeats in the finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros, Sabalenka rebounded by lifting a fourth Grand Slam trophy at the US Open in September.

"There was terrible control over my emotions," said Sabalenka, looking back at her losses to Madison Keys in Melbourne and Coco Gauff in Paris.

"I think the main lesson that I learned is that no matter what, doesn't matter how I feel, how frustrated I am inside, I still have to try to stay calm and try to think clear, just try to focus on the plan that I have for the match. No matter what, stay in control."

Sabalenka landed in the Stefanie Graf group at this year's WTA Finals, alongside defending champion Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini.

The top seed says she had an "intense" and "amazing" training block in Dubai for these season-ending championships and is ready for her opener against Paolini on Sunday.

Last month, Sabalenka got a chance to practise with Novak Djokovic in Greece, where they also went on a double date with their partners.

She has had multiple conversations with Djokovic in recent years and says he helped her gain perspective both on and off the court.

"How to stay settled and how to look at everything as you're looking from the outside on the situation on the court, off the court. Just to, like, be able to sit back and look at everything," she explained.

"Kind of like it's not you looking, it's someone else looking at your situation. I think that's the best lesson that you could take from Novak."

- Swiatek ready for quick surface -

Meanwhile, second-seeded Iga Swiatek made sure she was one of the first players to arrive in Riyadh in order to get acclimated with the court conditions and altitude.

The reigning Wimbledon champion opens her WTA Finals account against Madison Keys on Saturday, having qualified for the event for a fifth consecutive year.

The surface in Riyadh plays relatively fast, which historically hasn't been Swiatek's forte but the Polish star has made significant improvements under her coach of one year, Wim Fissette, who has helped her win titles on grass at Wimbledon and on hard courts in Cincinnati and Seoul this year.

"I think technically for sure the way I played on faster surfaces, the way I handled sometimes faster balls that were an issue for me in previous seasons, this was something that I felt improved totally," said the 24-year-old Swiatek.

"Also the speed of the serve. I think I was in some kind of a ranking of fifth or something in aces this year. That's impossible," she added with a smile.

Half of this year's WTA Finals field is American, with Gauff leading the quartet as the number three seed.

Gauff is looking to become the first player to successfully defend her WTA Finals title since Serena Williams completed a three-peat in 2014.

"I'm not thinking about that. I really just want to focus on my first match ahead and take it one match at a time. I think that's what I did last year. Going to try to keep that mindset," said the two-time major champion.

The WTA Finals kick off at King Saud University Sports Arena on Saturday and will conclude on November 8.

(D.Sanchez--TAG)