Elena Rybakina has revealed she’s struggling with a shoulder injury after advancing to the WTA Finals final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The former World No.3 staged a remarkable comeback against 2023 Finalist Jessica Pegula to earn her place in the championship match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rybakina had complained of tiredness after the third round-robin match against Jasmine Paolini, which she won in three sets. She had noted that due to her late push for a qualification slot at the tournament, she had to play more matches than other competitors. However, she has gone unbeaten at the WTA Finals.
On Friday (November 7), she struggled with her range and movement in the first set against Pegula. In fact, the 26-year-old committed 25 errors, 15 of which originated from her forehand wing, where Pegula consistently targeted. The American star capitalized on Rybakina’s weakness and won the set 6-4.
But in the second set, Rybakina put on a good fight, winning the set after breaking Pegula twice. In the deciding set, she continued with the momentum, beating the 31-year-old with her hard-hitting serves and volleys. She went on to win the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to qualify for the final. She will face Aryna Sabalenka, who overcame Amanda Anisimova in their semi-final clash.
Rybakina will be taking on Sabalenka for the fourth time this season at the WTA Finals. During Rybakina’s on-court interview with Tennis Channel, she revealed that she’s dealing with a shoulder injury but hopes to give her best performance against the World No.1 in the championship match:
For now, I’m pushing myself — it’s one last match left, so I’ll try to do everything possible with the team to recover. At the same time, we don’t want to make it worse before the offseason. We’ll see how it goes, but for now, I’ve been managing, and hopefully it’s not going to be worse tomorrow.
Sabalenka and Rybakina are undefeated in the four matches they have played this week at the Saudi capital. They now have a chance of earning a record $5.235 million with a victory in Saturday’s final (November 8). Sabalenka leads Rybakina 8-5 in their head-to-head record having won their last meeting at the Wuhan Open.
Aryna Sabalenka praises Amanda Anisimova following her hard-earned win in the semi-final of the WTA Finals
Aryna Sabalenka had to dig deep in her semi-final clash against Amanda Anisimova at the WTA Finals. The World No.1 had defeated Anisimova in the US Open final, and she knew the American star was coming into the match with a motive to earn her revenge. But, the Belarusian star overcame the fourth seed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the final.