The match already had two interruptions this Thursday night
Photo: GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun
Cancún (USA) – The duel between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina for the third round in the group stage of the WTA Finals had to be suspended due to rain. World ranking leader Sabalenka had won the first set 6/2, but Rybakina was leading the second set 5/3 when the match was interrupted for the third time this Thursday. Due to the advanced time and the few prospects for improvement in weather conditions, the game will only resume this Friday, at 5pm (Brasília time).
Sabalenka and Rybakina face off for second place in the Bacalar Group in Cancún. Both have a win and a loss in the Finals. North American Jessica Pegula, number 5 in the world, won their three group stage games and is already in the semi-final.
The definition of the Chetumal Group will also be on Friday. Coco Gauff plays at 7pm against Marketa Vondrousova, and then the undefeated Iga Swiatek will be challenged by Ons Jabeur. The four players still have chances of qualifying, with Swiatek being very close to the semi-final.
With a lot of wind on the court on Thursday night, the two players with an aggressive style and a lot of power in their blows had difficulty putting their serve on the court and also controlling the ball in deep rallies. But Sabalenka managed an early break of service and made it 2/0, before breaking again shortly afterwards to take a 5/1 lead.
The match was interrupted for approximately 20 minutes. On the way back, with Rybakina on serve, the players fought for some points. The game was stopped, first for the lines to dry, and then due to very heavy rain, which suspended the dispute for the second time.
With the pace of the game quite compromised, Sabalenka played a very unstable service game and made a sequence of errors, which allowed Rybakina to break her rival’s serve and make it 5/3. But when the Kazakh would have had the opportunity to serve for the set, it rained heavily again. And again, the tennis players left the court and the decision was made to suspend the remainder of the round.
Round will start at 1:30 pm with two doubles games
The delay in the singles and doubles schedules will make Friday very busy in Cancún with the games starting at 1:30 pm (Brasília time). The organizers also brought the start of the singles session forward by an hour compared to the other games of the week to try to catch up on the tournament.
See what this Friday’s schedule looked like.
Paradisus Stadium – 1:30 p.m.
[4]Barbora Krejcikova (TCH)/Katerina Siniakova (TCH) vs. [7]Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/Erin Routliffe (NZL)
[5]Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Demi Schuurs (HOL) vs. [8]Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA)/Ellen Perez (AUS)
Not before 5pm
[1]Aryna Sabalenka vs. [4]Elena Rybakina (CAZ)
Not before 6pm
[3]Coco Gauff (USA) vs. [7]Marketa Vondrousova (TCH)
Not before 8pm
[2]Iga Swiatek (POL) vs. [6]Ons Jabeur (TUN)
[1]Coco Gauff (USA)/Jessica Pegula (USA) vs. [6]Laura Siegemund (ALE)/Vera Zvonareva
