In what is a dead rubber for Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula needs to beat the Italian No. 1 in the final round-robin match in the Steffi Graf Group on Thursday.

The American enters the encounter with a 1-1 record for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, where Paolini was eliminated after two straight-set losses to Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.

Match preview

Entering the year-end tournament after reaching the final in Wuhan, Pegula has had a mixed performance in Saudi Arabia, defeating Coco Gauff in the rematch of the WTA 1000 final and losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

Nevertheless, the American No. 3 should take positives from taking Sabalenka to a decider for the third consecutive encounter, even if she has been beaten in two: the US Open semi-final and the year-end Finals.

Despite losing to the B

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