Elena Rybakina reveals what she was struggling with before beating Amanda Anisimova at the WTA Finals

Follow us on Google Discover

Elena Rybakina carried her strong end-of-season form through to the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Taking on Amanda Anisimova in her opening match, Rybakina produced a flawless serving performance to win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

Having hovered outside of the WTA Finals qualification places until the final week, Rybakina now finds herself in with a great chance of reaching the semifinals.

The Kazakh star was excellent against Anisimova, but wasn’t feeling too confident before the match.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Rybakina shared what she had been struggling with in practice.

Elena Rybakina was struggling to control the ball in ‘high-altitude’ conditions at the WTA Finals

Rybakina, like the rest of the field, took some time getting used to the unique conditions in Riyadh.

“The first few practices, everything was flying too much; it’s a little bit high altitude, so it’s not easy to control the ball,” she said.

“Before, in the warm-up, I was a little bit down.”

Picking herself up, Rybakina’s serve fired her to a convincing win over the world number four.

“The serve, it was a high percentage, a lot of good serves, I’m happy that I brought that intensity in the match,” she said.

“I’m happy the way everything worked today. I was a bit lucky in the second set on the return on deuce, where I got the break point, and I think it helped to get the advantage, so very happy overall with how I played today.”

Rybakina was then asked about her recent run of form, which saw her sneak into the WTA Finals at the 11th hour.

“It’s great that I managed to play well at the last few tournaments, but it’s not only the wins; I felt the improvement, and it was also a lot of tough opponents,” she said.

“I felt a little improvement throughout each match, so this is what I am happiest with, the results follow that.”

Rybakina has now won seven consecutive matches across three different tournaments in three different countries.

Elena Rybakina’s winning streak

• 1. Ningbo Open 2R [WIN] vs Dayana Yastremska
• 2. Ningbo Open QF [WIN] vs Ajla Tomljanovic
• 3. Ningbo Open SF [WIN] vs Jasmine Paolini
• 4. Ningbo Open F [WIN] vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
• 5. Pan Pacific Open 2R [WIN] vs Leylah Fernandez
• 6. Pan Pacific Open QF [WIN] vs Victoria Mboko
• Withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open
• 7. WTA Finals RR [WIN] vs Amanda Anisimova

Only time will tell if she can extend her winning streak to eight matches when she returns for her second group stage match.

Laura Robson says Elena Rybakina’s serve was ‘unplayable’

Also speaking to Sky Sports, former British star Laura Robson gave her verdict on Rybakina’s performance.

“Her serve was unplayable, routinely hitting numbers close to 200. When her first serve is on, her ball toss is so incredibly tough to read, as her opponent,” she said.

“You think about these conditions being quite fast as well, quite high bouncing, you could tell that [Amanda] Anisimova couldn’t get a play on it, and from then on, you feel like you’re on the back foot constantly, when your return games are just flying past you.

“So, a really solid start from [Elena] Rybakina, and she had the momentum coming into the tournament, and very much still has it.”

Robson was impressed with Rybakina’s ball-striking, which overpowered the hard-hitting Anisimova on Saturday.

“This type of tennis, with the type of balls they’re using as well, you can hear how crisp it is coming off the racket,” she said.

“She’s always someone that the other coaches and the other players talk about as having one of the cleanest ball strikes in tennis, and it was on show.”

While Rybakina’s win was straightforward, it wasn’t quite enough to go top of the group, as Iga Swiatek beat Madison Keys, 6-1, 6-2, in the opening match of the tournament.

Only time will tell who will advance from Group Serena Williams, but you certainly won’t want to miss any of the action.

Swiatek, Anisimova, Keys, and Rybakina will all return to play their second group stage matches on Monday, November 3.