Rybakina reaches semi-finals
Elena Rybakina is through to the last four of the WTA Finals after producing a storming comeback to beat Iga Swiatek in Riyadh. Rybakina, from Kazakhstan, lost the first set after a single break in 36 minutes, but turned the match on its head in the second and went on to win 12 of the next 13 games.
The win, coupled with Amanda Anisimova’s three-set victory over Madison Keys, ensured that Rybakina will finish top of the Serena Williams Group and secure a semi-final berth, while Swiatek and Anisimova with battle it out for the second spot on Wednesday.
Swiatek, the world No 2, thrashed Keys 6-1 6-2 in her opening round-robin clash, but was twice broken in the second set against Rybakina before failing to win a game in the decider to lose 6-3 1-6 0-6. Rybakina, who had lost each of her previous four matches against Swiatek, has now played two and won two in Riyadh following a 6-3 6-1 triumph over Anisimova in her tournament opener.
Fourth seed Anisimova bounced back and also recovered from a set down against fellow American Keys to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 in their second round-robin match. PA Media
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Righto, that’s us done for now – we’ll be back tomorrow for Coco Gauff v Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka v Jessica Pegula. Thanks for your company and peace out.
Anisimova tells Sky that Keys was playing well but she wanted to leave having offered a fight so made some adjustments. Annoyingly, she’s not asked to detail those, but says she wasn’t happy with her attitude early doors so tried to remind herself that she’s come back before. This year, she’s focused on the process and the day-in, day-out of the work … and that’s all she’s got for us.
I’m so excited about the future of women’s tennis. We’ve got players all able to beat each other, depending on the surface and day; players still improving, with lots of headroom still to explore; and a variety of different stories to absorb us. Swiatek v Anisimova, on Wednesday, should be a belter.
Two unusual but strange, entertaining matches. Rybakina played wonderfully well in winning sets two and three against Swiatek, who wilted in surprising fashion; Anisimova didn’t look like she had a comeback in her, but she’s cemented within the elite now and the combination of a huge game and burgeoning self-belief saw her through.
Amanda Anisimova beats Madison Keys 6-4-6 6-3 6-2
Big hitting from the back earns 15-0, then Keys nets – both players have done that a lot today – and it’s 30-0. Now two points away, Anisimova errs then sends down a double; 30-all, and pressure. How will she respond? Keys doesn’t mete out treatment to a weak second serve, but an error donates break point anyway … before a vicious inside-out forehand makes deuce. But tension tells, a backhand error handing over advantage … but Anisimova comes back well to restore deuce. Then, when Keys tries a cross-court backhand which drops long, she has match point, takes control of the rally with a typical backhand … only to misread the riposte, caught halfway to net. No matter: a big serve raises a further match point, this time, Keys’ return flies wide, and somehow, Anisimova has come back from a miserable start to win from a set and 3-1 down! That’s a serious show of moxie, even if Keys, who we learn hasn’t been well and know is remodelling her serve, had a poor day. So Rybakina qualifies for the semis as group winner; Anisimova will face Swiatek to determine who joins her.
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Keys makes 40-15 in a game I half-expected her to tank, and though a double then gives her opponent a sniff, she closes out, forcing Anisimova to serve for the match at 4-6 6-3 5-2.
I’ve been really impressed, not just with how Rybakina and Anisimova have played, but with how well they’ve steadied themselves after a poor first set. They won’t keep getting away with starting badly, but it takes a lot to stay calm … and, as I type, Anisimova secures her hold and a 5-1 lead with a high-kicking second-serve ace. That’s excellent work, taking her a game away from an effective playoff with Swiatek.
A forehand swiped long means Anisimova has 0-30, then Keys goes down the line with a further forehand … and it’s wide. Three points for a double break; three virtual match points. The first is saved, a return into the net burns the second, and a forehand winner, inside out and close to the corner, makes deuce; that’s excellent work. But Anisimova soon has advantage, then Keys impatiently flaps a backhand long, and at 4-1 in the third, this feels over.
Gosh, Anisimova is feeling herself; it’s so bizarre how quickly things turn around, until you remember that human beings are so bizarre. Anisimova makes 40-0 with a nicely disguised drop, holds to 15, and leads 3-1 in the third. Keys is running out of road.
Keys must hold here, you’d think, and she makes 40-0 in short order, three returns failing to land in court. And, when a fourth is zetzed wide, she’s on the board in set three, halting her run of seven straight games lost. Anisimova leads 2-1 in the decider, with a break.
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Anisimova is confident now, a rare serve-volley point giving her 30-0. Keys then lamps a forehand long, and though an error from her opponent gives her the merest sniff, a further overhit forehand means Anisimova leads 2-0 in the third, her break endorsed.
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Down 0-30, Keys delivers a sorely needed ace, then a forehand return to a high kicker, smashes cross, zips just wide. But Anisimova’s returns are asking questions now, the latest one inciting a netted forehand, and when Keys overhits, she has a break in the third having won six games on the spin.
Amanda Anisimova wins the second set against Madison Keys 6-3 to force a decider
Down 0-15, Anisimova nails a service winner and she’s the better player now, a further service winner taking her to within two points of a decider. Keys, though, monsters a forehand return for 30-all … only to net shortly afterwards; set point Anisimova, converted when a return hits the net. From a set and a break down, she’s fought back to earn a decider.
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A forehand cross, on to the line, earns Anisimova, down 4-6 4-3, 15-all, then a double donates 15-30. She can’t capitalise immediately, making a mess of a backhand return, but another error from Keys means break point, and when a second serve to the backhand gets the treatment, a cleanup forehand secures the break! At 4-6 5-3, Anisimova will now serve for the second set.
Is Anisimova growing in confidence? She makes 30-0, then Keys whips a backhand winner down the line – is the standard of this match increasing? – eventually holding to 15.
Gosh, at 15-0, Keys delivers one of the worst second serves I’ve ever seen, the ball barely reaching the net while, in comms, they note she’s not beaten a top-10 player since doing Sabalenka to win that Aussie Open. And she’s struggling here, a pair of doubles leaving her down 30-40 … so she finds a backhand winner down the line for deuce. Anisimova, though, spanks a forehand down the line to make advantage, and when Keys goes long, we’re back level in set two!
Better from Anisimova, a booming forehand allowing a swing-volley, dispatched with prejudice for 40-15, and from there, she closes out to keep the match alive at 4-6 2-3. But can she put the Keys serve under pressure?
Another forehand error from Anisimova – at least this one is long, not netted – means Keys is up 40-0, and a backhand return, lashed way long in response to an Edberg-style kick-serve, seals a comfortable hold. Keys leads 6-4 3-1 and there’s no sense a comeback is imminent.
At 30-0, Keys cracks a decent forehand return that brings her into the game but Anismova is playing a better game, a big forehand then a big serve securing her hold. She’s into the second set but trails 4-6 1-2.
Anisimova makes 0-15, only to net another backhand; she looks pained out there, and also exhausted. We move to 40-30, Keys closes out, and the consolidation puts her in almost total control of this match at 6-4 2-0.
Keys makes 0-15 but then nets a forehand; no matter. Anisimova lets out a pained squeal when an error donates 15-30, before a forehand skips wide and she hangs head in resignation. She does, though save the first break point, only to net a backhand, swinging at it from too far from the ball; I’ve not seen her play this poorly for a while, and she trails 4-6 0-1.
Madison Keys takes the first set against Amanda Anisimova 6-4
Anisimova, really struggling – as she did against Rybakina – swats a forehand return wide for 15-0 then, at 30-15, tamely nets an overhand backhand return. A service winner follows, and Keys takes a low-quality first set 6-4.
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My system crashes, returning in time for me to see that Keys has two break points at 15-40; she only needs one, and Anisimova is struggling now. At 5-4, the Aussie Open champ will shortly serve for the first set – a good test for her new action.
Keys makes 30-15 then a rarity: a backhand error from Anisimova who, generally speaking, hands over points with errors on the opposite wing. But another, into the net, takes us to 4-4 and this match is not of the highest standard.
Anisimova is serving well now, a love hold making 4-3, but it’s also fair to note that Keys’ returning wasn’t great in that game. Both players have another couple of levels to reach.
Now it’s Keys with the hold and we’re level at 3-2. These two are really well matched, but I fancy Anisimova to get it done because she’s the more comfortable in her game, while her big backhand is more reliable than Oor Maddie’s fore.
Up 40-0, Anisimova sends down a double, but a netted return gives her the first hold of the match and a 3-2 lead. Can Keys – and her new service-action – respond? I guess she’s had her injury issues, so as she nears her dotage it makes sense to limit stress on the body, but to change something so significant at her age is going to cause issues.
Anisimova makes 15-30, larrups a forehand towards the sideline … and just over it. But a terrific return then clips the back edge of the whitewash so at 30-40 we again have break-back point, Keys tries a kick-serve, and it’s sent back with extreme prejudice, that mortally threatening backhand doing more than enough to level us up at 2-2.
Gosh, neither player is quite at it yet, Keys making 0-30 before nailing a decent return on to the line; Anismova, though, responds superbly, an even better shot with that backhand of hers reducing her arrears before an inside-out forehand, also on to the paint, levels the game. Keys, though, then steps into a forehand winner to raise break point, a further violent forehand forces the error, and that’s a third break in three games. The Aussie Open champ leads 2-1.
Though Anisimova’s errors were the principal reason for the break, Keys played a decent game, harnessing her power in a way she doesn’t always find easy. But she’s getting used to a new and shortened service action so it’s no great surprise to see her down 15-40, and a double hands over a break-back Anisimova had to do little to achieve. It’s 1-1 in the first.
Keys makes 0-30 but is quickly hauled back, an ace levelling the game. But a forehand into the net cedes deuce, then Anisimova dumps a further forehand … then another, and that’s the immediate break.
Anisimova to serve, ready … play.
If Anisimova wins, Rybakina goes through as group winner, with the American facing Swiatek to see who goes with her. If Keys wins, Anisimova is out, with the other three fighting to see which two progress.
Laura Robson just said that Anisimova’s backhand is the best on tour; I’d go further and say it’s up there with the best shots, any kind, in the game, men or women.
Out come Keys and Anisimova…
Rybakina was the last to qualify for this competition, which might say she’s had the least good season of all in the field, or that she arrives at it in form. It’s not often you see Swiatek beaten up like that, but I’d fancy her to rebound when she plays Anisimova in her final group match.
So Rybakina is 2-0, Swiatek 1-1; coming up next, we’ve got Anisimova v Keys, both of them 0-1.
It’s always tough to play Swiatek she says, and she was a little bit sluggish at the start. But she pushed herself, her serve improved, and she’s very happy with her performance.
She’s glad she stayed focused and aggressive, following the tactics agreed with he coach, and once she got some confidence leading in set two – that is telling – she was able to go on.
Shew’s been playing really well the last few weeks, improving every match, and she’s trying to follow the little details while hoping to bring the same intensity to her next match.
It’s not often you see Swiatek ravaged like that; here’s Rybakina to explain how it happened.
Elena Rybakina beats Iga Swiatek 3-6 6-1 6-0
Rybakina makes 30-0 in short order, then a backhand return – of a second serve – swiped wide means three match points; Swiatek has gone. A second serve ace follows, meaning 12 of 13 games have gone to the Kazakh since the end of the first set, and that was a ludicrously fantastic performance; she can’t pay much better than that, and nor can anyone else. Beautiful stuff.
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It feels like women’s tennis is in a really good place at the moment. For quite some time, we had all sorts winning majors, but now we’ve got a coterie of brilliant players at the top: Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff, of course, but with Anisimova getting closer and Osaka good enough to hit the required level; if Rybakina is also ready to join that group, it’ll be even better. And she’s got a point for yet another break at 30-40, Swiatek swatting long, and this is an absolute tousing! Three breaks in the set, and at 3- 6-1 5-0, Rybakina has three breaks and will shortly serve for the match, her forehand just too much today. If she can hit this level regularly, she is a problem.
Swiatek needs to target the backhand if she can, but in the time it takes me to type that, she’s down 40-0; this is the best I’ve seen Rybakina play against a top player in a long while. And have a look! Swiatek is well in the rally, moving her opponent around then, out of nowhere, a lazy forehand is dispatched with coruscating power on to the sideline, and that’s 4-0!
I said at the start that Rybakina was mentally vulnerable but it’s Swiatek who’s struggling now, various errors forcing her to nail a first serve that saves break point and makes deuce. For all the good it does her, Rybakina making advantage then nailing a return which incites the error; her forehand it absolutely steaming at the moment and she’s won nine of 10 games since losing the first set, a double-break to the good at 3-0 in the third. Amazingly, this is nearly over.
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Further errors from Swiatek give Rybakina 30-0, but a forehand winner gives her a sniff … and only a sniff, a shanked forehand giving two consolidation points. And, though Rybakina then offers a double, an ace down the T seals the hold, and this is very good stuff indeed. The Kazakh leads 2-0 in the third.
It’d be just like Swiatek to find a way of breaking immediately, just it’d be a little too much like Rybakina to fid a way of being broken. But before we think about that, the Wimbledon champ has to hold, and at 40-15, she’s in control, but shortly afterwards slaps a forehand long to cede deuce. So she puts a bit extra on her first serve, watching the return fly long … only to send an inside-out backhand wide. A decent return, landing close to the line, then incites her to net, and Rybakina has break point, opening shoulder on a forehand cross that forces Swiatek to net! That’s three breaks in four service games, Rybakina’s forehand now the dominant shot in the match; she leads 3-6 6-1 1-0.
Elena Rybakina wins the second set 6-1 to force a decider with Iga Swiatek
Seven straight errors now, as Rybakina makes 30-0, then raises three set points with a serve/overhead combo. She only needs one, and was as solid as Swiatek was dodgy.
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An ace gives Swiatek 30-15, but a shanked backhand puts her under a bit of pressure. Rybakina, who’s responding really well to losing the first set, can’t then take advantage of a second serve, but when a backhand goes into the net, she makes deuce. And have a look! Swiatek nets a forehand after Rybakina swings a flat one at her, butchers another backhand, this time long, and that was a dreadful game from the Wimbledon champ, five errors offering the Kazakh a chance to serve for the second set at 3-6 5-1.
Swiatek has been returning from further back than usual, but down 40-30 and facing a second serve, she steps in a little … to make deuce. Rybakina, though, responds with a one-two of booming serve and forehand, then again, the latter shot coming off the back foot; her power is so natural and loose. Swiatek leads 6-3 1-4.
Now Swiatek holds to love to get on the board in set two, but she can put Rybakina under pressure with her returns?
Now then. Rybakina rushes through her first love hold of the match an exclamation mark affixed to it with the ace that seals the deal. Swiatek leads 6-3 0-3 and is currently second-best, outhit – in this set – from the baseline.
Swiatek flaps a backhand long, but two well directed forehands take her to 30-15 … before a Rybakina mishit forces her into a moon-ball that drops long. Then, at 30-all, a double donates break point; these are big moments in the context of the match and when Swiatek tries a body-serve, the return is good enough to force her to net; she’s precisely as ecstatic as you’d expect her to be. Rybakina trails 3-6 2-0, and if she can consolidate, we’ll really be talking.
Rybakina could really use a comfy hold here, to focus on trying for a break without the mental stress of having just fought off an attack. And from 15-30, three good points mean she’ll be receiving in decent heart, down 3-6 1-o but playing better than before.
Iga Swiatek takes the first set against Elena Rybakina 6-3
A wrong-footing backhand down the line gives Swiatek 15-0, but Rybakina responds with a winner of her own, another of those hooked forehands. But two errors then give Swiatek two sets points, and though she burns the first, a service winner secures the set.
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Rybakina’s forehand, when it works, is a helluva weapon; it’s not just the power, but her ability to hook it at the last second, so a ball that looks to be going line ends up leaping cross. She holds to 15, securing the game with an ace, and at 5-3, Swiatek will now serve for the first set.
A big forehand earns Rybakina 15-all, then Swiatek nets a forehand and suddenly faces a bit of pressure following three love holds. But a forehand which drops fractionally long, then another which is more so, means it’s soon 40-30, a return then flies beyond the baseline, and at 5-2 Swiatek is a game away from the first set.
Three service winners get Rybakina to 40-15, then a wrong-footing forehand secures the hold for 2-4. She’s playing a bit better now, but can she find anything on the Swiatek serve?
And barely have I hit save than Swiatek holds to love. After facing a break point in the opening game of the match, she’s all over it and leads 4-1, sticking Rybakina on her bike so she can’t plant feet and thwack.
Rybakina again finds herself behind on serve and, down 15-30, hits a decent forehand. But forced to come in and volley, she’s tentative, dumping into the net, and must now face two further break points. This time, though, she finds the booming deliveries she needs to make deuce, and from there she closes out for 3-1 Swiatek.
Swiatek consolidates easily, sealing the deal with an ace, and you can feel her intensity assaulting you through the screen. She leads 3-0, and Rybakina needs to keep the head while finding some first serves.
After putting Swiatek under pressure for no immediate gain, I’d not be surprised to see Rybakina broken immediately – the respective mentality of these two is perhaps the biggest difference between them. And sure enough, Swiatek makes 15-40, Rybakina errs on the forehand, and that’s 2-0.
Rybakina starts well, hitting cleanly and through the ball, backhand winner earning her break point at 30-40; Swiatek, though, responds well, hooking a forehand winner for deuce before closing out for 1-0. Already, you can se the difference in how they move, Swiatek lithe, agile and flexible and Rybaklina a little laboured and flat-footed in comparison.
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…ready, play.
Out come our players…
So how does Rybakina win? Aside from playing well, she might want to target Swiatek’s sometimes-dicky forehand and deny her angle by hitting down the middle.
Rybakina, meanwhile, needs to improve her consistency on the forehand, but also her ability to stay level through matches. She’s more than capable, but I’d back Swiatek to munch her today.
Swiatek is up there with the most relentlessly, murderously focused competitors in all sport, and it’s great to see her back to her best. She’s not unbeatable because there are others with more power and bigger shots, able to hit through her, but her all-round game might be the most complete.
Preamble
Hello there and welcome to this Monday’s meeting of the Gleeful Hand-Rubbing Society.
I mean, just look at what’s in store. We begin with the winners from the first round of matches, Iga Swiatek – back to her menacing, intimidating best – against Elena Rybakina, who’s not trained on as expected since winning Wimbledon in 2022, but when she’s at it has the easy, joyful power to ruin anyone.
Likewise Amanda Anisimova – surely a future Grand Slam winner and this year’s runner-up at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadow. She takes on against Madison Keys, the Australian Open champ – words I’ll never tire of typing – with the loser eliminated. I’d not want to be a ball in that one, which is lucky, as I’m not, but even if I was, everyone else would be in for a treat.
Play: 5pm local, 2pm GMT
