RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka commenced her WTA Finals campaign in Riyadh on Saturday with a fifth victory in as many meetings against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China, racing to a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Facing off for the fifth time in the last 14 months, Sabalenka and Zheng opened the action at the first ever professional women’s tennis tournament in Saudi Arabia in front of a near capacity crowd at King Saud University Indoor Arena.

The Belarusian top seed needed just one hour and 24 minutes to defeat Zheng, dropping a mere two points behind her first serve throughout the contest.

A runner-up at the WTA Finals in Texas two years ago, Sabalenka is eyeing a maiden trophy at the prestigious season finale, which would also guarantee her the year-end number one ranking.

“It’s going to mean everything for me, that’s one of my dreams and I really worked hard in the past years and I really hope that one day I’ll be able to hold this beautiful trophy,” said 26-year-old Sabalenka on court.

“Qinwen is such a great player and we always had great battles against each other. She’s playing really aggressive tennis. I’m super happy with the win, especially against such a tough opponent.

“I think I served really well today and I put her under so much pressure on her serve. So I think my serve helped me tonight.”

Very little separated the players in the opening set as both dominated the points behind their first serves, Sabalenka winning 18/19 and Zheng winning 13/16.