The dance in the desert: Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys set to kickoff WTA Finals

Action at the WTA Finals in Riyadh begins on Saturday after a thrilling season in the women's game, which has seen four separate Grand Slam singles champions crowned.

And, two of them will take to court against each other in the tournament's opening singles match on Saturday, with second seed and Wimbledon champion Swiatek facing seventh seed and Australian Open champion Keys.

Former world No. 1 Swiatek has won five of their seven previous meetings, though the two stars split their encounters in 2025 - with Keys beating the Pole in the Australian Open semi-finals before Swiatek prevailed in the Madrid Open quarter-finals.

The clash between Swiatek and Keys will then be followed by fourth seed Amanda Anisimova taking on sixth seed Elena Rybakina, in what will be the first-ever tour meeting between the two.

Wimbledon and US Open runner-up Anisimova is making her WTA Finals debut in 2025, while Rybakina has qualified for the third straight season and will hope to progress from the round-robin stage for the first time.

Sunday's order of play will see world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka begin her quest for a first WTA Finals title, having previously finished as the runner-up in 2022.

The top seed starts her campaign versus eighth seed Jasmine Paolini, the only woman who qualified in both singles and doubles this year.

The pair also met in the round-robin stage of the WTA Finals in 2024, with Sabalenka winning in straight sets on that occasion, and the Belarusian has an overall 5-2 head-to-head lead over the Italian.

The final opening round-robin match in Riyadh is an all-American clash between third seed Coco Gauff and fifth seed Jessica Pegula, less than a month after the two faced off in the Wuhan Open final.

Gauff also defeated her compatriot in the round-robin stage in Riyadh back in 2024, though Pegula holds an overall 4-3 lead in their head-to-head.

It will, in fact, be the third straight year in which the two have faced off in the year-end championships, with Pegula beating Gauff in the semi-final in 2023.

Third seed Gauff enters the WTA Finals as the reigning champion, and she will look to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to successfully retain the title.

After the opening round of matches on Saturday and Sunday, players will then return to the court on Monday and Tuesday.

Across both groups, opening-match winners will play winners and losers will play losers, ensuring there will still be plenty at stake across the final slate of round-robin matches on Wednesday and Thursday.

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