The first day of the WTA Finals 2023 in Cancun, Mexico, will feature the creme de la creme of women’s tennis. The world’s top two players, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, have been expectedly drawn into different groups.
Sabalenka is in the Bacalar Group with Elene Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Maria Sakkari. The Chetumal Group has Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur, and Marketa Vondrousova.
Among the octet, Rybakina and Vondrousova are making their debuts at the season-ending event. Pegula and Gauff have returned to the singles and doubles fields for the second straight year. They will hope to fare better after losing all their matches across singles and doubles.
Meanwhile, Sakkari has come in as the first alternate after Karolina Muchova pulled out due to a wrist injury. An intriguing sub-plot at the event will be the race for year-end WTA No. 1 between Sabalenka and Swiatek.
At the moment, the Belaruian leads Swiatek by a healthy 630 points. Two wins in the group stage will confirm her as the World No. 1 regardless of how Swiatek fares. If the Pole loses two group matches, Sabalenka will be confirmed as the No. 1.
An undefeated player will earn 1,500 points and $3,024,000 million in the singles field of the year-end event.
The first day of WTA Finals 2023 action on Sunday will feature players from the Bacalar Group, with Rybakina taking on Pegula and Sabalenka taking on Sakkari.
On that note, here’s the schedule for the first day of the WTA Finals 2023, as per Jose Mortago:
Plaza Quitana Roo, Cancun
At 5:00 pm local time: Elena Rybakina vs Jessica Pegula
To be followed by: Aryna Sabalenka vs Maria Sakkari
Where to watch WTA Finals 2023?
Viewers from the following countries can catch live action from the WTA Finals 2023 on the following channels and sites:
Amazon Prime Video – United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland
beIN SPORTS – Australia, Turkey, France & French overseas territories
O2 TV – Czech Republic
TV2 – Denmark
Sportcast (Super Tennis) – Italy, San Marino & Vatican City
Nova Sports – Greece & Cyprus
Canal+ – Poland
DAZN – Japan
Tennis Channel – USA, Germany, Austria, Swizterland & Puerto Rico
Telenet – Belgium
TSN – Canada
ESPN – Central & South America
Sportsmax– Caribbean
Live streaming will also be available on WTA TV.
For more information regarding the broadcast of matches, click here.
