It took Zheng a little longer to get going. She lost her opener to Aryna Sabalenka, and nearly lost the first two sets to Elena Rybakina. But something clicked in the third. She won it 6-1, then handed out two more breadsticks to Jasmine Paolini in her final match.

Rybakina has only played two matches since July and had not played in the two months leading up to the WTA Finals. Even though Rybakina will not advance in the tournament, she was the only player in the Purple Group to defeat Sabalenka. A great way to finish her season 👏 And a lovely exchange at the net 🫂 #WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/YV8JhnjsVp

While Gauff was able to get the better of Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open final, the Belarusian is 3-2 in their last five meetings. And the fact that this match will be played in incredibly quick conditions makes it hard not to like Sabalenka to push through somewhat easily.