Aryna Sabalenka will attempt to close out one of the greatest seasons of her career by winning the WTA Finals for the first time as she rekindles her rivalry with Elena Rybakina in the final of the season-ending championships.
In the final stages of a tournament that has spectacularly produced both drama and quality, semi-final day in Riyadh further underscored the fierce competition at the top of women’s tennis today with two excellent three-set contests.
Rybakina continued her imperious form by recovering from a sluggish start to outlast Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a bruising, tension-filled battle. Then Sabalenka again demonstrated her peerless fighting spirit by holding off Amanda Anisimova in a brilliant encounter to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
After playing her best tennis of the season over the past few weeks to qualify for the WTA Finals, Rybakina entered Riyadh filled with confidence and this has shown in her performances throughout the tournament. Like Sabalenka, the Kazakhstani has reached the final with a spotless scorecard, winning all four of her matches.
Still, things were difficult early on against Pegula. Rybakina was unsettled by the American’s relentless depth, consistency and ability to absorb her pace. She ended the opening set with 25 unforced errors while repeatedly gesturing towards her right shoulder, which was bandaged from the beginning of the match. However, as she worked herself into the contest, Rybakina completely overpowered Pegula during parts of the final two sets with her clean, destructive groundstrokes and she ended the match with 15 aces.
As was the case in September’s US Open final, Sabalenka’s performance against Anisimova underlined her growth as a tennis player and competitor. The 24-year-old Anisimova has established herself as the purest shotmaker in women’s tennis. Instead of merely trying to outhit her, Sabalenka won through a superior defence, intelligence and an ability to absorb Anisimova’s immense pace, impressively outmanoeuvring the American to reach the final stage of the WTA Finals for the second time.
Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic moved into the final of the Hellenic Championship in Athens with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Yannick Hanfmann. Djokovic’s victory means that he will have minimal rest should he choose to compete at the ATP Finals, which begins just one day after Saturday’s final, and where the rest of the competitors have spent the last two days preparing for the start of the competition.
Djokovic chose to compete in Athens because the tournament, which had previously been held in Belgrade, is owned by his family and he now resides in the Greek capital. Djokovic will next face Lorenzo Musetti, the second seed, who must beat the Serb in order to secure his spot in the ATP Finals.
In Metz, Cameron Norrie will attempt to end a resurgent season with his first title since 2023 as he recovered from a set down in his third consecutive match to reach the Moselle Open final with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. He will face Learner Tien of the US in the final.
