Until recently, Elena Rybakina had been having quite a disappointing season, however on the 8th of November she dramatically beat World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka to claim victory at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Despite winning the Strasbourg and Ningbo Open, Rybakina’s game had seen a decline this season with her facing early exits from all four grand slams. Her third-round Wimbledon defeat raised questions over how her off-court problems were affecting her game, with one notable issue being Stefano Vukov.
Vukov had coached Rybakina from 2019 till 2024, when allegations of abuse caused the pair to end their professional relationship. In January of this year, the WTA suspended Vukov for a year after an investigation was conducted. However, in August his appeal was upheld, allowing him to rejoin Rybakina’s team. It is undoubtedly clear that this rollercoaster of emotions had affected Rybakina’s game this season.
After reaching the semi-finals of the Tokyo Open a week prior, Elena Rybakina became the last player to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Favourites to win included World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, World No.2 Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
Rybakina’s chances were low; however, she re-established herself with wins against Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova and Ekaterina Alexandrova to set up a blockbuster final against Sabalenka.
The pair had met in Berlin, Wuhan and Cincinnati this year, with Sabalenka winning two of their last three matches. However, this time there was a record-breaking prize of $5m for the winner. Rybakina showed the world that she is undeniably one of the best servers on the tour as she won 13 aces against Sabalenka.
As usual, Sabalenka put up a good fight however the Kazakhstani was ruthless and made minimal errors, coming back up from two set points, to defeat the World No.1 in under two hours.
Sweeping to her 11th consecutive win, Rybakina closed out her best ever season with a 58-19 record. “I honestly didn’t expect any result so to go so far was just incredible,” Rybakina said after her win.
During the trophy ceremony, Rybakina refused to be pictured with WTA chief Portia Archer and declined to comment on the reason. This comes after she criticised the WTA earlier this year over the Vukov situation.
Rybakina ends the season ranked World No.5 and now that she’s back in form, all eyes will be on her when the WTA Tour resumes in late December.
