Elena Rybakina promised she would not go down easily against Aryna Sabalenka and kept her word after beating the new world No. 1 6-4 3-6 6-1.
Heading into the match, the 2022 Wimbledon champion was 0-2 at the WTA Finals and had no chances of qualifying for the semifinal. Meanwhile, her opponent had two wins and the top place in Purple Group already sealed.
Early in the clash, there wasn’t much consistency from either side as the Kazakh started the match with a break but the Belarusian responded with back-to-back breaks to go 3-1 up.
But then, another twist happened after Rybakina claimed breaks in the fifth and ninth games to overturn the deficit and go up by a set.
After a total of five breaks in the first set, the first seven games of the second set were pretty calm after not a single break point was seen. Then, came a lengthy eighth game, in which Sabalenka realized her fourth break point opportunity to open a 5-3 lead before serving out for the decider in the following game.
However, Rybakina didn’t panic nor allow the Belarusian to complete her comeback after impressively winning five consecutive games from 1-1 in the third set.
Rybakina warned Sabalenka what to expect
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