The Serena Williams Group at the WTA Finals has been narrowed to a single, decisive match: Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek are both 1-1 in the round-robin, and the winner advances to the semifinals.

Monday’s action in Riyadh produced three-set comebacks by both Anisimova and Elena Rybakina. Rybakina has already clinched the group and will not be affected by her match with Madison Keys, leaving the Anisimova-Swiatek match as a straightforward win-and-in contest.

Swiatek arrived having lost to Rybakina 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, a reversal that saw her lose 15 of the last 18 games after taking the first set and accumulate 36 unforced errors in sets two and three combined. Rather than dwell on that result, the five-time WTA Finals participant and 2023 WTA Finals champion said she had no plans to “over-analyze” the defeat because “the tournament still goes on.”

“I’ll just focus on playing Amanda next, and that’s it,” she said. “Every match I play, I want to win, so I’ll just prepare and be ready.”

For Anisimova, this is her first appearance at the year-end championships. The two-time Grand Slam finalist rebounded from an opening loss to Rybakina, turning the corner against Madison Keys by winning 11 of the last 13 games after falling earlier by 6-3, 6-1. She said one of her main goals when she returned to the court was to “put up a fight today.”

That 48-hour turnaround leaves Anisimova buoyant ahead of her third meeting of the year with Swiatek. “Now it feels more like a real tournament, that you know if you win, you progress, and then if you lose, you’re out,” she said. “So yeah, [I’m] just looking forward to it, and hopefully I can give it my best shot.”

With Rybakina already through, the Serena Williams Group’s final order will be decided by this direct confrontation between Anisimova and Swiatek.

Amanda Anisimova reversed a precarious start at the WTA Finals to record a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win over Madison Keys, becoming the only player this season to have beaten all four 2025 Grand Slam women’s champions. After dropping her opening round-robin match two days earlier, Anisimova trailed Keys 6-4, 3-1 and seemed headed for a second loss in the group before winning five consecutive games to snatch the second set and shut down the match in the third.

“I feel like every time I come out here, my opponent’s playing some crazy tennis,” Anisimova said in her on-court interview. “It’s been a difficult few matches and today Maddie was playing so well, and it was quite a battle out there. I’m really happy with how I was able to turn it around in the second set, and kind of turn that frown upside down!”

The victory moved Anisimova to 1-1 in the round-robin phase and placed her one match away from securing a spot in the semifinals. More notably, it completed a sequence of wins over the four players who claimed the year’s major titles. Earlier this season Anisimova beat Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals of Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals of the US Open and Coco Gauff in the semifinals of Beijing, and her win against Keys came in the WTA Finals round-robin.

The four champions swept the majors this year: Keys, Gauff, Swiatek and Sabalenka won the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, respectively. With the WTA Finals the final WTA event of the season, Anisimova may remain the only player to complete that set. Elena Rybakina still has a chance; she already has wins this year against Sabalenka, Swiatek and Keys, but she is not in the same group as Gauff here and would need to beat Gauff in the semifinals or final. Jessica Pegula is only missing a win over Keys, but they are not in the same group and Keys has already been eliminated from advancing.

The Stefanie Graf group moves into its fourth day with semifinal places at stake as Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini each need a win to keep hopes alive. Both players dropped opening matches and will meet in a match that could decide who advances from the group.

Head to head: Tied 3-3 (Paolini 3-1 in 2025)

After a three-set loss to Jessica Pegula in her opening match, Gauff struggled with 17 double faults and 45 forehand unforced errors. Paolini opened with a heavy defeat to Aryna Sabalenka, who produced 11 aces and wrapped up a straight-sets victory in just over an hour. The two met a few weeks ago in Wuhan, where Gauff claimed her lone victory in four meetings this year; that encounter featured a run of 11 consecutive breaks of serve.

Whichever player can better protect serve and manage nerves will prolong her Riyadh campaign. The seedings are clear: (3) Coco Gauff versus (8) Jasmine Paolini.

Head to head: Sabalenka leads 8-3 (2-1 in 2025)

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka takes on Jessica Pegula in the later session. Sabalenka described her state after the opening win by saying: “I’m getting better and better every day.” A victory over Pegula would put Sabalenka in strong position to lock a spot in the semifinals and pursue a first WTA Finals title.

Pegula handed Sabalenka her most recent defeat last month in Wuhan. For the American to win again and likely secure her own semifinal place, she must clean up the uneven elements of her opening victory against Gauff. Recent meetings between Pegula and Sabalenka have been tight; Sabalenka holds the edge this year.

Schedule (local / ET):
(2) K. Siniakova / T. Townsend vs. (3) G. Dabrowski / E. Routliffe — Start: 3:00 PM local (7:00 AM ET)
(3) Coco Gauff vs. (8) Jasmine Paolini — Not before: 5:00 PM local (9:00 AM ET)
(1) Aryna Sabalenka vs. (5) Jessica Pegula — Not before: 6:30 PM local (10:30 AM ET)