Sabalenka’s two wins don’t guarantee advancement, Djokovic’s first victory over Tabillo contradicts the Italian chairman, gender exhibition match draws criticism

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Wednesday, November 5, 2025. Welcome to the midday news report brought to you by Tennis Home.

Let’s start with the Riyadh WTA Year-End Finals. Early this morning Beijing time, the second round of the singles Graf group concluded. Top seed and world number one Sabalenka battled through three sets to defeat fifth seed, American star Pegula, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, avenging her Wuhan loss and securing her second consecutive group stage win. Meanwhile, defending champion and third seed Gauff won 6-3, 6-2 against the ailing eighth seed Boulter, earning her first group stage victory.

Currently, Boulter has lost both matches without winning a set and is already eliminated. Gauff and Pegula each have one win and one loss. Although Sabalenka has two wins, she dropped a set and thus has not secured early qualification. The two spots from this group will be decided by the final round of group matches, with a possible three-way tie scenario. If Sabalenka loses 0-2 in the last round, she might miss out on the semifinals.

In doubles, Huber group: second seeds, the Czech-American duo Siniakova/Townsend defeated defending champions and third seeds Dabrowski/Luetlief 6-4, 7-6(3), avenging their US Open final loss and achieving two group wins. In another match, seventh seeds Babos/Stefani edged out fifth seeds Mira-Andreeva/Schneider 7-5, 2-6, 10-7, improving their group record to one win and one loss. As a result, Siniakova/Townsend lead the group and qualify, while Dabrowski/Luetlief and Babos/Stefani will compete for the second semifinal spot. The Russian pair Mira-Andreeva/Schneider, with two losses, have been eliminated early.

Moving on to other venues. Last night Beijing time, two ATP 250 indoor hard court tournaments continued this week. Athens: In a key singles second-round match, top seed Djokovic defeated Chilean player Tabillo 7-6(3), 6-1, ending a two-match losing streak against him and advancing to the quarterfinals. This marks Djokovic’s first time competing in Greece and his 225th career entry into a tour-level men’s singles quarterfinal.

After the match, when asked by media about the Italian Tennis Federation chairman’s claim that he would participate in the Year-End Finals, the Serbian star said the decision would be made after Athens, and he could not confirm anything now. “I don’t know where he (the Italian chairman) got that information; it definitely didn’t come from me or my team.” In other second-round results, American Korda and Portuguese Borges each won their matches to reach the quarterfinals.

Metz: In the singles second round, Italian star Sonego came back from behind to beat compatriot Cobolli 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, joining Britain’s Norrie who also advanced after overturning French rising star Cazaux 6-7(1), 7-6(7), 6-2.

Now for some breaking news. Yesterday Beijing time, Evolve, an agency founded by former world number one and Japanese star Naomi Osaka, announced a gender battle exhibition match scheduled for December 28 in Dubai. The match will feature women’s world number one Sabalenka against Australia’s notorious Kyrgios. Fan reactions are mixed; some welcome it, others are puzzled. Many fans question Sabalenka’s choice: “Why would she agree to this? Is it just for money? She doesn’t need it!” “If she loses, won’t it make her look bad as the female world number one losing to a semi-retired male player? Even winning seems meaningless—why get involved in this?” What do you think, should Sabalenka participate in this exhibition match?

Finally, let’s play a guessing game. Below is a photo showing the back of a player. Without any hints, can you identify who he is?

In the previous guessing game, some fans gave the correct answer. That’s right, the person in the picture is Chinese player Wang Yafan.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)