Though Elena Rybakina was eliminated from contention for the 2024 WTA Finals title, she ended her season in the best possible way. Rybakina struggled in her first two matches, losses to Jasmine Paolini and Qinwen Zheng. However, she found her form to defeat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) on Wednesday.
Rybakina has dealt with injury and health issues all year long. Before arriving at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, South Africa, she had not played competitive tennis since the second round of the US Open. Her rustiness and lack of form showed in her early matches. She saved the best for last with a solid victory over Sabalenka who has been the best player on the WTA Tour and the hardcourts this year.
Elena Rybakina gets a good win to finish her season.
6-4, 3-6, 6-1 over year-end world #1 Aryna Sabalenka at the WTA Finals.
Nice to finish a very tough 2nd half of the year with a win.
Rybakina ends 2024 above 5000 points but needs Zheng to lose in the SFs to stay on top 5-
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 6, 2024
Soon we will see Elena Rybakina without her newly appointed 2025 coach, Goran Ivanisevic. Fans are excited to see how this partnership develops.
How Did Elena Rybakina Do It?
Rybakina fell behind 1-4 in the first set before she pulled it together. Solid serves, confident shotmaking, and a rare and prolonged drop in Sabalenka’s quality of play that got her over the finish line.
Sabalenka sprayed unforced errors and looked visibly frustrated. Fans had not seen that from her since the 2023 US Open when she fell to Coco Gauff. It is likely just a blip on the radar as Sabalenka was already a lock for the WTA Finals semifinal round.
For Rybakina, it is a season-ending win over the World No. 1 that takes her to 4-6 head-to-head in her career against Sabalenka.
Seven out of their ten career matches have been three set affairs.
Jessica Pegula Withdraws
In other WTA Finals news, American Jessica Pegula withdrew from the event with one match remaining on her docket. Pegula was slated to face Iga Swiatek on Thursday, but she will be replaced by alternate Daria Kasatkina.
Jessica Pegula, already eliminated, will not play tomorrow against Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals.
Alternate Daria Kasatkina comes in to face Swiatek, in a must-win match for the world #2.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 6, 2024
Pegula suffered a knee injury which is an unfortunate end to a season of highs and lows that involved prolonged injury absences, new coaches, and her first trip to the US Open finals.
Coco Gauff Is Only Undefeated Player
With Sabalenka’s loss to Rybakina, she falls to 2-1 this week. Coco Gauff is the only remaining undefeated player. She is 2-0 and faces Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday.
