The round-robin stage is complete, and the semifinals of the WTA Finals are set. The four best singles players and doubles teams converge to determine who will advance to Saturday’s finals. 

Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova will renew their rivalry in a US Open final rematch, and Jessica Pegula eyes her second WTA Finals championship appearance against Elena Rybakina, who is undefeated in Riyadh.

In doubles, 2024 WTA Finals runner-up Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend square off against 2022 champions Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, while Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko meet Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani for the first time. 

Below is the order of play, match times and breakdowns of the four semifinals scheduled for Friday.

Semifinal matchups

Note: All matches are local time.

Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko (6) vs. Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani (7) — 3:30 p.m.

Hsieh-Ostapenko swept the Martina Navratilova Group and have been the most in sync team in Riyadh. Their next task is Babos and Stefani, who rallied from a set and two breaks down to knock off defending champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe on Thursday. 

This will be their first matchup, though it will mark Babos’ fourth doubles semifinal appearance at the event. Babos-Stefani is 2-0 vs. Ostapenko in 2025, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the US Open and 7-6 (1), 5-7, [11-9] in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart. (Ostapenko competed with Barbora Krejcikova in New York and Dayana Yastremska in Germany.)

Hsieh-Ostapenko won their last two matches in straight sets, not conceding more than four games in a single set. All three of Babos-Stefani’s group-stage matches went to the 10-point match tiebreak, and they finished 2-1. 

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WTA

Jessica Pegula (5) vs. Elena Rybakina (6) — Not before 6:00 p.m.

Head to Head Head: Pegula leads 3-2

The Case for Pegula: The eldest player in the singles field seeks her second appearance in the final after reaching the championship match in Cancun in 2023. After losing her second match to Sabalenka, Pegula responded with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Jasmine Paolini to finish in second place in the Stefanie Graf group. 

Though Rybakina defeated Pegula in the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals back in September, Pegula leads the head to head 3-2, and all of those wins came on hard courts. At the WTA Finals in 2023, Pegula won 7-5, 6-2 in the group stage, and also picked up wins in Guadalajara and Miami in 2022. 

Through her first three matches, Pegula has won 72% of her first-serve points, on average, and has saved 64% (16-of-25) of break-point opportunities. Capitalizing in these areas will be crucial for the 31-year-old against Rybakina. 

The Case for Rybakina: Rybakina has been utterly dominant in Riyadh, sweeping her group despite being the last player to qualify for the tournament. The World No. 6 has advanced out of the group stage for the first time in three WTA Finals appearances. 

Rybakina won her lone meeting against Pegula this year, just a couple months ago. This Hologic WTA Tour’s best server in 2025, she notched nine aces in a 6-4, 6-1 victory. 

She’s recorded 18 aces over her group stage matches, but Rybakina’s ability to break her opponent’s serve — 12-of-16 (75%) across all three matches — has fueled her undefeated start. Plus, she’s won 80.2% of her first-serve points, the best of any player in Riyadh. 

Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Amanda Anisimova (4)

Head to Head: Anisimova leads 6-4

The Case for Sabalenka: The World No. 1 swept her group at the WTA Finals for the first time in her career. She said it herself: The only way to guarantee her first WTA Finals title is to go undefeated, and take it one match at a time. She’s 60% of the way there, and now Anisimova stands between Sabalenka and her first WTA Finals championship appearance since 2022. 

Sabalenka went 2-1 against the American in 2025, and all three matches were at Grand Slams. Most notably, Sabalenka recently defended her US Open crown with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over the American in New York. And though she lost at Wimbledon, Sabalenka won their clay-court battle with a 7-5, 6-3 win at Roland Garros.

Sabalenka is the third No. 1 seed to reach three or more consecutive semifinals at the WTA Finals, joining Navratilova (1980-1986) and Graf (1987-1990). Sabalenka has gone 13-0 in her opening-set tiebreaks in 2025, including in her win over Coco Gauff on Thursday. She overcame a 5-4, 30-0 first-set deficit in that match, and then a 4-2 deficit in the tiebreak. 

The Case for Anisimova: The lone debutant at this year’s Finals qualified for the semifinals after defeating Iga Swiatek in a winner-takes-all showdown on Wednesday.

Anisimova’s next test is the World No. 1, and she’s seeking to avenge the loss in Arthur Ashe Stadium in September. The 24-year-old defeated Sabalenka at Wimbledon to advance to her first career Grand Slam final, but the last time she defeated Sabalenka on a hard court was in Toronto in 2024.

With the momentum she’s built over the last two matches — and with an extra rest day — Anisimova is Sabalenka’s toughest task so far, and could become the first player to defeat both the PIF WTA No. 1 and No. 2 in her maiden appearance.

Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend (2) vs. Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens (4) 

Liezel Huber Group winners Siniakova and Townsend, eyeing their second consecutive championship appearance in Riyadh, will face Kudermetova and Mertens.

These teams are used to meeting in high-stakes semifinals. Just a few months ago, Siniakova-Townsend defeated Kudermetova-Mertens 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals of the US Open. 

Kudermetova-Mertens, the reigning Wimbledon champions, won the WTA Finals title in 2022, the last time they reached the final. They’ll have to go through a pair that won the Australian Open, and features the year-end No. 1 doubles player in Siniakova.Â