Maria Sakkari continued her unbeaten run in the WTA Finals by defeating world number 2 Ons Jabeur to top her group while Aryna Sabalenka eased past Jessica Pegula to reach the final four as well.
Coming into the contest on the back of wins, a closer contest between the two was expected only for the Greek to seal an easy 6-2 6-3 win. She broke Jabeur twice in the opening set for the lead before again breaking early for a 3-1 lead in the second to secure her third win on the trot.
Sakkari winning the first set already eliminated Jabeur from the WTA Finals and confirmed Aryna Sabalenka’s place in the final four so her lack of motivation in the second set may be justified in some sense.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, defeated American Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-5 to improve her round-robin stage record to 2-1 with her only defeat coming against group topper Maria Sakkari.
The Belarusian jumped to an early 5-2 lead before the world number three fought off four set points to break straight back but Sabalenka got another break to love in the next game to wrap up the set.
Pegula fought back from a 2-0 hole in the second before trading breaks of serve later in the set only to falter from 6-5 to drop her third match in a row.
Her loss means she is yet to win a single match in the season-ending event having lost all three singles contests and two of her doubles matches with Coco Gauff.
In the semifinals, Sakkari will face either Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia or Russian Daria Kasatkina while Sabalenka will face world number one Iga Swiatek.
