Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh.
After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group.
Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition.
Photo: Reuters
“Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,” fourth seed Anisimova said. “I’m happy I turned things around in the second set and kind of turned the frown upside down. It was an exciting match and it was nice to have a little bit of a fight out there.”
Rybakina was the last of the eight singles players to qualify for this season’s WTA Finals, and she did so by clinching the title in Ningbo, China, and reaching the semi-finals in Tokyo in the last two weeks of qualifying tournaments. She has now won each of the past eight matches she has played.
“I’ve been playing really well the last few weeks. I was improving each match and of course the results were following after,” the 2022 Wimbledon champion said. “It’s a great opportunity to play here against the top players. I’m really excited about the next matches, and hopefully I can bring the same intensity and the same game.”
Rybakina went into the clash having lost all four of her previous meetings with Swiatek this year and it looked like she might suffer a fifth straight defeat to the Pole when she dropped the opening set in 35 minutes.
However, the Kazakh sixth seed adjusted tactically, utilizing her kick serve and big forehand to maximum effect to sweep 12 of the next 13 games and complete the upset in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
“It’s always very tough to play against Iga, she brings so much intensity on the court. In the second set, I pushed myself, the serve improved, and I’m happy I stepped in and played much better,” Rybakina said. “Mentally I’m happy I stayed focused no matter if I lost the first set, I was still trying to stay aggressive.”
Swiatek will have to battle it out with Anisimova to secure second place in the Serena Williams Group and a place in the final four.
“I will have to watch and analyze, but I just think I wasn’t that solid in getting back those fast long shots, and she was more aggressive and also more solid in finishing the rally, but I will have to watch to understand fully,” Swiatek said.
Making her WTA Finals debut this week, Anisimova was down a set and 1-3 before she seized the momentum by taking the next seven games en route to victory in 1 hour, 43 minutes.
The result means Keys has no chance of advancing to the semi-finals. The Australian Open champion had not played for two months before traveling to Riyadh as she dealt with an adductor injury.
In the doubles, sixth seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italian top seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-4.
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