When the chips are down and the pressure’s cranked up to eleven, there’s one player who seems to thrive in the chaos: Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian powerhouse proved yet again why she’s the world’s best, dispatching Coco Gauff 7-6(5), 6-2 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh to lock down the top seed and punch her ticket to the semifinals.

Sabalenka’s Clutch Gene Kicks In

Gauff had Sabalenka on the ropes early. The 21-year-old American broke serve to open the match and was serving for the first set at 5-4. Most players would’ve crumbled under that kind of pressure. But Sabalenka? She just shrugged, cranked up the power, and clawed her way back like she was ordering takeout.

Down 4-2 in the first-set tiebreak, things looked grim. Gauff was one or two points away from stealing the set and poten

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