Sabalenka and Rybakina vie for a $5,235,000 grand prize, Hsieh Su-wei misses the final, Djokovic meets Musetti

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Saturday, November 8, 2025. Welcome to the news midday report from Tennis Home.

This morning Beijing time, the WTA Finals wrapped up the singles semifinals as top seed Sabalenka and sixth seed Rybakina both won their matches to meet in the final. Sabalenka battled through three sets to defeat fourth seed American Anisimova 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, reaching the year-end final for the first time in three years. This marks the Belarusian’s ninth final this year and the 40th in her career.

Rybakina fired 15 aces to come from behind and beat fifth seed American Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, riding a 10-match winning streak to reach her first WTA Finals championship match.

Around midnight Beijing time tonight, Sabalenka and Rybakina will clash in a “Double Ba Battle” to compete for the champion’s trophy. Both have maintained perfect 4-0 records from the group stage through the knockout rounds, so whoever wins will complete a five-match winning streak and claim the massive $5.235 million undefeated champion prize. In their head-to-head record, Sabalenka leads Rybakina 8-5. For tonight’s epic showdown, which player do you support, Sabalenka or Rybakina?

In the doubles semifinals, former champion and fourth seeds Kudermetova/Mertens saved a match point and narrowly overturned second seeds Siniakova/Townsend 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-6, reuniting for the year-end final after three years. They will next face seventh seeds Babos/Stephens, who defeated sixth seeds Hsieh Su-wei/Ostapenko, a cross-national team from China and Latvia, 6-4, 7-6(5).

Let’s turn to the men’s tour. Early this morning Beijing time, two ATP 250 indoor hard court tournaments concluded their singles semifinals and finalized their final lineups. In Athens, top seed Djokovic and second seed Musetti both won their matches to set up the final. Djokovic defeated German qualifier Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4 to reach his third final of the year, his 95th hard court final, and the 144th career tour final, aiming for his 101st title. Musetti saved a match point and edged American Korda 6-0, 5-7, 7-5 to reach his third final this season and eighth career tour singles final.

This final will decide the last spot for the year-end finals. If Musetti wins, he will displace Canadian star Auger-Aliassime and secure the final ticket to Turin.

In Metz, seventh seed Norrie rallied from a set down to beat Italian Sonego 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, reaching the final here for the second consecutive year. This is the Brit’s first final this year and the 16th career tour singles final. In the other semifinal, American rising star Learner-Chaney defeated lucky loser Sachko 6-1, 6-4 to reach his second career tour singles final, aiming for his first title.

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Finally, let’s play a guessing game. The photo below shows a player relaxing in the desert. Without any hints, can you identify who she is?

In the last guessing game, tennis fans gave the correct answer. Yes, the person in the picture is the Russian rising star Schneider.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)