Road to the WTA Finals: Rybakina’s power game catches fire at the right time

4m read 28 Oct 2025 1mo ago

Summary

Elena Rybakina turned her season around in May with a title in Strasbourg, her first in more than a year. Recently victorious in Ningbo and being the only singles qualifier in Tokyo, she arrives in Riyadh with the most momentum ahead of her third consecutive WTA Finals appearance.

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Champions Reel: How Elena Rybakina won Ningbo 2025

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Editor’s note: Starting Monday, Oct. 20, we’re publishing Road to the WTA Finals, an eight-part snapshot of the qualifiers and the form they bring to Riyadh. Check back all week for new installments.

More from the WTA Finals

Bringing late-season heat, Elena Rybakina was the last to qualify for the PIF WTA Finals in Riyadh, but she’ll enter as the No. 6 seed, ahead of Madison Keys and Jasmine Paolini.

She advanced to the semifinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Friday, defeating Victoria Mboko 6-3, 7-6 (4). Rybakina saved a set point near the end, reversing the result of their meeting this summer in Montreal.

Nine days before the year-end championships, that guaranteed her spot.

“Would have been better if it was earlier,” Rybakina said afterward.

After producing a disappointing 3-2 record in the WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan, Rybakina had virtually no margin for error -- and delivered. Rybakina locked it down by winning six straight matches, including the title in Ningbo, her second of the year after winning on the clay in Strasbourg earlier this spring.

Strasbourg was the turning point for Rybakina. It had been more than a year since she had last lifted a trophy, in Stuttgart. Five times she had put together four- or five-match win streaks the rest of the year, but injuries and illness always seemed to intervene. At the Tennis Club de Strasbourg, she won four consecutive matches for the first time in 2025, defeating Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

With the first six qualifying spots for the year-end championship already taken, Rybakina faced Jasmine Paolini in the Ningbo semifinals. A win for Paolini would end Rybakina’s quest for a third straight berth in the WTA Finals. Rybakina responded with a 6-3, 6-2 win over the Italian to keep her season alive. She set the tone early, hitting 21 winners and seven aces in the first set alone. Paolini eventually got in ahead of Mirra Andreeva and, by finishing strong, so did Rybakina.

The 26-year-old, who represents Kazakhstan, collected the most match wins of her career (53 through the Tokyo quarterfinals), but the 2022 Wimbledon champion was relatively quiet in the Grand Slams, reaching the third round at Wimbledon and the fourth round at the three other majors.

With the win over Mboko, Rybakina reached her seventh WTA Tour hard-court semifinal of the year -- more than any other player. Including team events, she’s the only woman to play more than 50 matches this year on the speedy surface. Another fun fact: Rybakina is the only player to have claimed more than 10 wins at Grand Slams, WTA 1000 and WTA 500 events, respectively, in 2025.

The only singles qualifier in action in Tokyo, Rybakina comes in with the most momentum.

Rybakina’s 2025 Season By the Numbers

2025 Record: 53-19

2025 Titles: Strasbourg (500), Ningbo (500)

Previous WTA Finals Appearances: 2023 (lost in the group stage) and 2024 (lost in the group stage); 2-4 career record

Best WTA Finals Result: Defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets in her third round-robin match a year ago in Riyadh

Defining Moment of 2025: In the most charged match of the year in terms of qualifying, Rybakina defeated Paolini in the Ningbo semifinals 6-3, 6-2.

Notable Stat: For the first time in four years, Rybakina did not reach the final of a Grand Slam or WTA 1000 event.

Defining Quote of 2025: “It’s great to make it to the Finals again. I think I played really well last week, and here. We’ll see what I can do there in the Finals. If I play like this, it’s going to be good, definitely.” -- Rybakina after beating Mboko to secure her spot in the WTA Finals

What This Title Would Mean (+ What to Watch for in Riyadh)

Greg Garber: The world, I suspect. This is the lowest she’s been seeded at the year-end championships, and she’d love to defy expectations. When she’s on, playing on a hard court, few players hit the ball as cleanly and sharply as Rybakina. “Easy power” is how 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova succinctly put it. Her serve will keep her in it -- she’s got 478 aces for the year, more than 100 ahead of No. 2 Clara Tauson.

Brad Kallet: What a finish for Rybakina, who cooly rattled off six straight to secure her qualification into Riyadh. All of those were must-win matches, and she approached them and executed like the veteran and Slam champion that she is. To your point, Greg, her hard-court game, monster serve and experience on this stage -- not to mention momentum -- make her a threat in this tournament.

Brad Kallet and Greg Garber