Going into the final day of round-robin matches, Sabalenka, Zheng, and Gauff had already qualified for the semifinals. The final spot was between Swiatek and Krejcikova, with the

Defending WTA Finals champion Iga Swiatek was eliminated from the season-ending championship on Thursday after Barbora Krejcikova's 7-5 6-4 win over Coco Gauff meant the Polish world number two failed to advance to the last four.

Gauff and Sabalenka have faced each other eight times with a 4-4 head-to-head record. Sabalenka won their match at the Wuhan Open last month, and the pair split the other two recent meetings at Grand Slam finals: the 2023 US Open which Gauff won and the 2024 Australian Open which Sabalenka won.