Sports
Rybakina and Sabalenka lead their groups as Gauff and Pegula land together at the WTA Finals
The WTA Finals draw put Elena Rybakina with Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Linda Noskova. Aryna Sabalenka tops a group with Mirra Andreeva.
The groups are set for the WTA Finals.
Top-ranked Elena Rybakina and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will lead the two singles groups at the season-ending event. The draw was held Tuesday.
The tournament runs from Sunday through Nov. 15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
Group 1
Rybakina is the defending champion. Her group includes Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the fourth and fifth seeds. No. 8 seed Linda Noskova rounds it out.
"Feeling very excited," said Rybakina, who won the US Open this year. "Now we're playing outside. It's a lot of tough players, all great champions."
Group 2
Sabalenka is joined by third seed Mirra Andreeva, sixth seed Elina Svitolina and seventh seed Karolina Muchova.
Rybakina beat Sabalenka in last year's final.
Some first-timers
French Open champion Andreeva, Wimbledon champion Noskova and Muchova are all making their Finals debuts.
Each player faces the other three in her group. The top two in each group move on to the semifinals.
A new home
The event was moved to the desert from Saudi Arabia because of safety concerns tied to the Iran war.
It is the first time since 2023 in Cancun that the Finals will be played outdoors.
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