On Wednesday, Elena Rybakina concluded her group-stage campaign at the 2025 WTA Finals with a perfect record, securing a straight-sets victory over alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova in Riyadh. The final score was 6-4, 6-4 in a match where Rybakina’s powerful winners and serves ultimately proved the difference, despite a late challenge from Alexandrova in the second set. This win followed her stunning comeback against Iga Swiatek earlier in the tournament, solidifying her top position in the group and building significant momentum.

As reported by The Tennis Letter on X, following her win, Elena Rybakina opened up about the challenges of the match during her on-court interview, stating, “Yeah, it was tough, especially in the second set. I was up, and then, yeah, I lost a bit of concentration. And, I mean, Ekaterina is always a tough opponent. She also has a big serve, and especially in the beginning, it was difficult to return. So, yeah, I’m pretty happy that I managed to win in two sets in the end.”

This reflection underscored the mental focus required at the elite level, even when a player seems to be in control of a match. Her comments on Alexandrova’s formidable serve were particularly apt, as her opponent had started the match strongly, even almost leading during the early rounds in the first set.

Looking ahead, the Kazakhstani player expressed a confident and determined mindset, stating, “Sure. Every match I play I want to win, of course, and definitely each win gives you confidence. So, yeah, I’m pretty happy that for now the last matches have been great, and, yeah, hopefully I can continue.” This winning mentality has been a hallmark of her recent performances.

Just last month, she demonstrated similar resilience by rallying past Alexandrova (3-6, 6-0, 6-2) to claim the title at the Ningbo Open, a victory that undoubtedly contributed to the confidence she now carries. Previously, the Kazak also revealed a game-changing move that she used to win a match against none other than Iga Swiatek.

Elena Rybakina’s one ability gave her an upper hand over Iga Swiatek

After falling down in the first set, Elena Rybakina rallied to overcome Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh, in an unbelievable turn of events. This win gave the world No. 2 a pretty rare bagel. The match kicked off with Swiatek showing her usual intensity, breaking Rybakina’s first service game and wrapping up the opening set smoothly. But then, everything changed quickly, with Rybakina taking charge and winning 12 out of the last 13 games, showcasing her incredible power and concentration.

In her post-match on-court interview, Rybakina shared what helped her secure the win, saying, “Yeah, it’s always very tough to play against Iga. She brings so much intensity on the court and I feel like she started really well the match and I was a little bit slow so the serve straight away she broke me so it was difficult to be down but in the second set I pushed myself, the serve improved and yeah really happy that I stepped in and played better each point so yeah very happy with the performance and thank you so much for support.”

Even when the match seemed to be going away, she was able to keep up her aggressive approach and execute her game plan thanks to this sort of performance. In regards to the tactical change, her serve saw a remarkable improvement. She admitted as much, saying, “Well mentally definitely I’m happy that I stayed focused no matter if I lost the first set I was still trying to stay aggressive and do what we actually talked with the coach so I was trying to follow the tactic a bit and of course focusing more on my serve and after I got some confidence leading in the second set and everything was going my way so yeah I continued and hopefully I will play like this throughout the whole tournament.”

The win really showed what Rybakina is capable of. With her strong serve and powerful groundstrokes, she can take on the top players when she’s mentally sharp and has her game plan down. It was quite impressive to see her in action like that!