WTA Finals 2024: Coco Gauff beats Aryna Sabalenka and is in the final against Zheng Qinwen

Sabalenka secured first place in the world rankings at the end of the year this week after an outstanding season, but against Gauff she was frustrated, error-prone and annoyed the whole time.

Her forehand faltered – such a crucial component of her game – and she committed 16 unforced errors in the first set.

She and Gauff traded breaks early, but Gauff was composed on serve and was able to extend the rally, even though he knew Sabalenka would make a mistake at some point.

Despite the chaos, Sabalenka broke out to a 6-5 lead and held serve for the set, but a backhand into the net led to the tiebreak, which Gauff dominated.

After a long toilet break, Sabalenka started the second set better, but another backhand error gave Gauff an early break.

Gauff won four games in a row and took a 4-1 lead before Sabalenka finally got one of the breaks – but she needed eight break points after a mammoth serve game from Gauff.

Given the unpredictable nature of the game, breaking Sabalenka’s serve in the next game felt inevitable, and that was the case – as did Gauff’s break when she served at love at 5-2.

But Sabalenka couldn’t delay the inevitable even on her serve, and a final backhand at the net – her 37th unforced error of the night – secured Gauff the win.