tennis | Friday, November 4, 2022 8:58 AM (Revised at: Friday, November 4, 2022 9:42 AM)

Friday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Finals - Fort Worth, Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula

Jon Reid

Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula Best Bet: Friday, November 4th

It’s the final night of group play for Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka, Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari. Technically, all four women still have a chance of advancing to the semifinals as they enter the final night of play.

For Friday’s selection, we’ll look at the match featuring Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula.

In this article:

Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula Preview
Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula Best Bet

Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula Preview

November 4th, 20:30 UK Time

It’s a must-win match for both women, with Maria Sakkari being the only player sure to go through entering the night’s action.

For the American to get through to the semis, she’ll need some help from Maria Sakkari, but with her hopes still alive, I like her here as an even-money underdog against a Sabalenka who’s looked perplexed by the court conditions in Fort Worth.

Without being able to hit through the courts and her opponents’ strong defences, and with her serve finding fewer cheap points, it’s been tough sledding for the Belarussian. Sure, she won her opening match, but she was just two points away in that one from having lost all four sets she’s played to this point.

Pegula hasn’t fared much better, losing in two tight tiebreaks to Maria Sakkari, and then blowing a 6-1 lead against Ons Jabeur to find herself in a position where she desperately needs to win in straights.

Luckily, she’s primed to execute a very similar style to Sakkari, as she can extend rallies, plays a rock-solid brand of tennis from the baseline and can redirect pace coming at her.

Her serve may be a tad vulnerable, but with the courts playing so slow, we’ve seen players able to track down even Sabalenka’s powerful returns of serve.

I haven’t been convinced at all by the bigger server and ball striker in her two performances this week, and have also noticed that she can fatigue, as her game style necessitates a high amount of energy to generate the power she tries to play with.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula Best Bet

It may only be a two-match sample size for Sabalenka, but I’ve seen enough to think that at an event attended by only the best players in the world, and in slower conditions, siding with the more consistent baseliner is the right play.

That holds especially true when said player is the underdog in the betting markets, as we saw with Sakkari and are once again seeing with Pegula.