Elena Rybakina is through to her maiden WTA Finals final after completing a big comeback and beating Jessica Pegula 4-6 6-4 6-3 in just over two hours of play.
The sixth-ranked Kazakh, who hadn't lost a match since falling short to Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan quarterfinal, struggled on her serve early on in the match and dropped the first set after Pegula registered two breaks.
Down by a set, Rybakina responded with an early second-set break and went on to open a 5-2 lead. While Pegula managed to get the break back and reduce the deficit to 4-5, the 2022 Wimbledon champion didn't panic and sent the match into a decider after breaking the American in the 10th game - when the world No. 5 was serving to stay in the second set.
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The third set was pretty much the same story as the second set - the Kazakh blew a break but collected another in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead before serving out for the match in the following game.
For the WTA Finals crown, Rybakina will face the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova.
Rybakina admitted to feeling 'tired' before the Pegula match
Of course, Im a little bit tired, but I think everybody feels the same. The season has been long, but everyone is going to try to push no matter what. Its really the last few matches left, so you try your best. When you get this far into the season, recovery becomes just as important as the tennis itself. Im just trying to stay healthy, recover well, and do my best in the next one," the Kazakh said before her semifinal match in Riyadh.
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For Rybakina, this was her ninth consecutive win in a completed match. Note - before arriving in Riyadh, the Kazakh reached the Tokyo semifinal but didn't play against Linda Noskova because she pulled out of the match, and such situations are not counted as official wins or losses.
