Rybakina harnesses power for timely resurgence
Elena Rybakina’s season nearly slipped away amid injuries and close calls, but her commanding hard-court run has her entering Riyadh with quiet confidence and a serve ready to disrupt the elite.
Elena Rybakina arrives in Riyadh as the No. 6 seed for her third straight PIF WTA Finals, the last to qualify after a semifinal push at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The 26-year-old Kazakh, 2022 Wimbledon champion, edged Victoria Mboko 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Friday, saving a set point in the tiebreak to reverse their Montreal result from summer. With nine days until the year-end event, that victory locked in her spot, capping a streak of six straight wins that included the Ningbo title, her second of 2025 after Strasbourg in the spring.
Strasbourg breaks the drought
Rybakina’s campaign shifted in May at Strasbourg, where she claimed her first title in more than a year, ending a frustrating stretch since her last trophy in Stuttgart. Injuries and illness had interrupted five separate runs of four or five matches throughout the season, but on the clay at Tennis Club de Strasbourg, she pieced together four consecutive victories for the first time in 2025. She sealed it with a 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-1 win over Liudmila Samsonova, mixing flat groundstrokes with deeper positioning to absorb pressure and counterattack crosscourt.
This breakthrough, part of the Road to the WTA Finals series that began on Monday, Oct. 20 with Road to the WTA Finals: How Sabalenka has set the standard in 2025, continued on Tuesday, Oct. 21 with Road to the WTA Finals: Swiatek proved versatility is her greatest weapon, Wednesday, Oct. 22 with Road to the WTA Finals: How Gauff course-corrected and played her way back into form, Thursday, Oct. 23 with Road to the WTA Finals: Amanda Anisimova’s season built on first-strike efficiency, and Monday, Oct. 27 with Road to the WTA Finals: Jessica Pegula and the art of staying elite, highlighted her growing mental edge amid the tour’s demands.
“Would have been better if it was earlier,” Rybakina said afterward.
Ningbo semifinal demands precision
After a 3-2 record in the WTA 1000 events at Beijing and Wuhan left her with no margin, Rybakina entered the Ningbo semifinals against Jasmine Paolini knowing the first six qualifying spots were taken—a loss would end her Finals hopes. She dispatched the Italian 6-3, 6-2, firing 21 winners and seven aces in the first set, her inside-out forehands carving angles that forced Paolini into defensive lobs under the humid lights. This high-stakes clash, the most charged of the year for qualification, kept her season alive and propelled her to the title on the medium-paced hard courts.
Paolini advanced ahead of Mirra Andreeva, but Rybakina’s efficiency—blending a dominant serve with one–two patterns that opened the court for down-the-line backhands—secured her berth. Through the Tokyo quarterfinals, she amassed 53 match wins, a career high against her 19 losses, while logging more than 50 hard-court matches including team events, outpacing every rival.
Defining moment of 2025: In the most charged match of the year in terms of qualifying, Rybakina defeated Paolini in the Ningbo semifinals 6-3, 6-2.
Tokyo run sharpens Riyadh edge
In Tokyo, the only singles qualifier in the draw, Rybakina reached her seventh hard-court semifinal of 2025, surpassing all others, her clean power thriving in the night’s sticky air as she tightened returns to disrupt second serves with varied underspin. Grand Slams offered modest depth—third round at Wimbledon, fourth at the others—but she stands alone with more than 10 wins each at majors, WTA 1000s, and WTA 500s this year. For the first time in four years, she skipped finals at Slams or 1000s, redirecting that focus into consistent surges on faster surfaces.
Her previous WTA Finals trips in 2023 and 2024 ended in group-stage losses, a 2-4 career mark, though she notched a three-set upset over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s round-robin finale in Riyadh. Now seeded lowest in four years, with 478 aces—over 100 more than Clara Tauson in second—her game evokes what Martina Navratilova called “easy power,” sharp and penetrating on hard courts.
“It’s great to make it to the Finals again. I think I played really well last week, and here. We’ll see what I can do there in the Finals. If I play like this, it’s going to be good, definitely,” she said after beating Mboko.
Greg Garber suggests the world underestimates her at No. 6, her serve and striking poised to defy odds in Riyadh’s brisk indoor setup. Brad Kallet points to her veteran composure in those must-win stretches, executing with a champion’s calm that turns pressure into propulsion, setting her up to challenge the field’s top pace-makers.
