By Tennis Now | Sunday, October 27, 2019
Aryna Sabalenka did not face a break point sweeping top-seeded Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-2, to collect her third title of the year at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Photo credit: WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Facebook
There's no place like home.
Unless you're Aryna Sabalenka in which case there's no place like China.
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Sabalenka did not face a break point sweeping top-seeded Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-2, to collect her third title of the season at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
The fourth-seeded Sabalenka claimed all three of her titles—Shenzhen, her second straight Wuhan crown and Zhuhai—on Chinese hard courts.
"For the next season I would like to win somewhere else instead of China," Sabalenka told the media in Zhuhai after winning her fifth career title. "But also I would like to keep winning in China. But I'm just really happy with this title and with the finish of my singles season, it's really impressive."
A dynamic championship performance capped a week in which the 21-year-old Belarusian dropped just one set in four victories. That came in Sabalenka's 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 round-robin victory over doubles partner and buddy Elise Mertens.
Sabalenka stopped 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova in Saturday's semifinals and set the tone against Bertens with a strong serving display.
Though Bertens had won four of their prior five meetings, Sabalenka streaked through 16 of 19 points on her serve for a 5-4 lead. Sabalenka converted her third break point to take a one-set lead.
Sabalenka, who was not pressed to deuce on serve, broke in the second and eighth games to close a convincing one hour, 16-minute conquest.