The fate of Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff and Rybakina is sealed in Riyadh

The draw for the 2024 WTA Finals, which will be held in Riyadh from 2 to 9 November 2024 and will be the 53rd singles tournament, has been confirmed. This is also the first event to take place in Saudi Arabia.

The tournament features eight top-ranked WTA Tour teams in singles and doubles. This will be the fifth year in a row that the tournament will be held in a new home, with Shenzhen in 2019, Guadalajara in 2021, Fort Worth in 2022 and Cancun in 2023 all being held in different locations.

Arina Sabalenka takes first place and heads the Purple Group, and the gala draw will end on Tuesday afternoon. Iga Swiatek, world number two and second seed, leads the Orange Group.

During the first six days, each player faces three other players from their group. The top two advance to the semi-finals. The player in first place plays against the second in the other group and vice versa. The winners of each semi-final meet in the Championship Match.

Additionally, since it is a round-robin system, there are caveats in place in case players end up tied at the end of the week. This:

Most match wins
Most matches played
Head-to-head results if only two players are tied or if three players are tied:

A. If each of the three players has the same number of wins, the player who has played fewer than all three matches is automatically eliminated, and the player who advances to the elimination competition is the winner of the match between the two remaining tied players.b. Highest percentage of sets won. Highest percentage of games won

As for the groups, Sabalenka, who will strive to remain number one in the world only thanks to several early victories in Riyadh, will have a more difficult time. She will face Jasmine Paolini, a two-time Grand Slam finalist this year. Although Elena Rybakina has not played for several months, she is back in Saudi Arabia, all smiles and danger, usually when she is not sick. And also Qinwen Zheng, who was the player of the moment.

A true standout star on the Asian hard court circuit, she secured her qualification and lost only twice, and has only lost four times since Wimbledon. So if Sabalenka goes for it, it will be a difficult path.

Although Swiatek may have an easier time with Coco Gauff, over whom she has an incredible track record. And also Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova, two players who can cause problems but aren’t safe bets either, especially Krejcikova. So she will be the favorite to win. Will there be any shocks on the table?

Purple group

Arina Sabalenko

Jasmine Paolini

Elena Rybakina

Zheng Qingwen

Orange group

Iga Swiatek

Coco Gauff

Jessica Pegula

Barbora Krejcikova

The draw for the WTA Finals in Riyadh has been announced. Purple Group Arina Sabalenko Jasmine Paolini Elena Rybakina Qingwen Zheng Orange Group Iga Swiatek Coco Gauff Jessica Pegula Barbora Krejcikova Let’s go, ladies.