WTA Finals open with Noskova win over Kostyuk, Gauff beats Pegula

The first two singles matches have been played at the WTA Finals, the women's tennis tour's season-ending event, where players compete in round-robin groups. Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic (world No. 8) beat Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk (No. 10) 6-2, 6-4. Coco Gauff, the top-ranked American (No. 4), then defeated compatriot Jessica Pegula (No. 5) 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. To reach the semifinals, a player must finish at least second in her four-player group.

Noskova ahead in every key statistic

The Czech was the favorite going in, with bookmakers offering odds of 1.61 on her win. She outperformed Kostyuk in first-serve percentage (59 to 38), points won on second serve (54% to 45%) and total points (66-54). Noskova converted all four of her break-point chances, while Kostyuk converted one of four. Noskova now leads their head-to-head 3-1.

Gauff recovers in the second set

Bookmakers had Gauff as a slight favorite, at odds of 1.66. In the ninth game she saved herself from 0-40, and she broke Pegula's serve on a fourth attempt in the last game of the first set. In the second set Gauff came back from 1-5 to 6-5 but lost the tiebreak 5-7. She was steadier in the deciding set. Gauff won more total points (119-106) and converted 7 of 16 break chances to Pegula's 4 of 11. Their head-to-head is now 6-5 in Gauff's favor.

Latvian player in doubles

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko is also in the doubles event, partnering Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei (No. 5 seeds). Their first match, against Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil's Luisa Stefani (No. 1), is expected to take place overnight into Tuesday. Their group also includes Kristina Mladenovic/Hao-Ching Chan...