No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus had little trouble seeing off China's Qinwen Zheng in a group stage match at the WTA Finals on Saturday, prevailing 6-3, 6-4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sabalenka finished the match with just three aces to Zheng's eight, but won 31 of 33 points on the first serve and recovered from deficits of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 in the second set.

“I’m super happy with the win, especially against Qinwen,” said Sabalenka. “It's always tough matches, tough battles against them, and I'm really… glad I was able to finish this match in straight sets.”

Eight players are currently competing in two round-robin groups at the WTA Finals – the Purple Group and the Orange Group. Sabalenka and Zheng are in the purple group along with fourth-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini and fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Defending champion and No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, Americans Coco Gauff (third seed) and Jessica Pegula (sixth seed) and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, eighth seed, make up the Orange Group.

The top two players in each group will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for Friday. The final is scheduled for next Saturday.

No one from the Orange Group took the court on Saturday, but Paolini and Rybakina were in action, with Paolini escaping with a 7-6 (5) 6-4 victory.

It was Paolini's first career win at the WTA Finals. She took advantage of a pretty rusty Rybakina, who hadn't played a match since the US Open.

“I didn’t know what to expect because she hasn’t played since (the US Open),” Paolini said. “But I knew she would serve very well here. So I was ready to fight, especially on my serve game, I tried to concentrate on every serve game and be close on the score. And I said to myself, ''”When the opportunity presents itself, you have to try to break it.”

Nevertheless, Rybakina is optimistic that she can make a splash at the WTA Finals.

“Overall I think it was a good game,” she said. “After a break like that, I think the level of my game wasn’t that bad after just two and a half weeks of preparation. I’m looking forward to the next game and hope I can do better.”

Hong Kong Tennis Open

No. 2 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain reached her third final of the year after defeating No. 6 seed Yuan Yue of China 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in China.

She won in San Diego and Nottingham earlier this season and will face top-seeded Russian Diana Shnaider for the title on Sunday. Boulter won 68 percent of points (40 of 59) on her first serve and also converted six of 15 break chances.

Shnaider has won three titles in her career – all this season. She advanced by defeating third-seeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2 and five break points in 87 minutes.

Jiangxi Open

The unseeded Swiss Viktorija Golubic defeated the top seed Marie Bouzkova 6:1, 6:2 to reach the final in Jiujiang, China.

The Czech dominated the first three rounds, winning each game in straight sets, but was edged out by Golubic due to eight breaks of serve from the Swiss in the 77-minute match.

In the final, Golubic will face second seed Rebecca Sramkova from Slovakia, who defeated Germany's Laura Siegemund 7:6 (4), 6:2. Sramkova saved 12 of 15 break points and broke the German serve five times. Sramkova will reach her fourth final this season, winning in Hua Hin.

Merida Open Akron

Russia's Alina Korneeva earned a consecutive 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo in the quarterfinals in Merida, Mexico.

The 17-year-old Korneeva saved 10 of 12 break points in the win. She also converted 6 out of 6 break points.

Sorribes Tormo quickly fell into deep holes in both sets, falling 5-1 behind in the first set before falling 4-0 down in the second set.

–Field level media