Earlier, Kasatkina cruised past Zhu Lin, 6-1, 6-2, to maintain her seventh-place position. The Russian was just 11 points behind Garcia in the race standings coming into this week. Kasatkina is aiming to reach the WTA’s season finale for the first time.
Meanwhile, Sakkari—a semifinalist last year when the WTA Finals were staged in Guadalajara—defeated Marta Kostyuk, 6-4, 6-4. With Simona Halep previously ending her season, Sakkari currently occupies the final qualifying berth, though the woman she overtook, Veronika Kudermetova, will reclaim the all-important No. 8 spot should she win her opener.
Kudermetova meets last weekend’s San Diego finalist Donna Vekic Wednesday. Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka—each currently in line to punch singles tickets to Texas—also begin their campaigns
Petra Kvitova and Beatriz Haddad Maia saw their slim chances ended with their respective losses to Bianca Andreescu and Katerina Siniakova.