Riyadh, Nov 5 (UNI) Top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus held off a strong fightback from fifth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States to secure a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory at the Women’s Tennis Association Finals group stage here, marking her second consecutive win and giving her the lead in the Steffi Graf group.

Sabalenka and Pegula had last faced each other in October’s Wuhan Open, where Pegula came from behind in the semifinals to end Sabalenka’s 20-match winning streak at the tournament.

In their latest meeting, both players traded heavy groundstrokes early, with the first three games going to deuce before each held serve. Sabalenka earned the first break for a 5-2 lead.

Pegula saved a set point and cut the deficit to 4-5, but Sabalenka broke again to take the set 6-4.

Pegula raise

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