"I didn’t expect that I would put so many balls in" - Indifferent conditions clinically managed by Elena Rybakina in WTA Finals opening match

Elena Rybakina was surprised with how she handled the tricky conditions in her 6-3, 6-1 win over Amanada Anisimova, kicking off her 2025 WTA Finals campaign in the perfect fashion.

Rybakina was in command from the early stages, nicking a break in the first game before cruising into a one-set advantage. She was even more dominant in the second set, going 3-0 ahead before winning another three games on the spin at the end to cap off an impressive performance against the two-time Grand Slam finalist.

The Kazakhstani was very pleased with her performance, pinpointing specific bits of it that she was really happy with. "Well, definitely the serve. I think it was a high percentage — a lot of good serves — and yeah, I’m happy that I also brought intensity into the match," Rybakina said speaking to Sky Sports after the match. "Before the warm-up I was feeling a little bit down, so I’m really happy with how everything worked today. I was also a bit lucky in the second set on that return at deuce where I got a break point — I think that helped a little to get the advantage. So yeah, very happy overall with how I played today."

The conditions in Riyadh are not to all of the players liking. The courts are quite fast, making it more challenging for the players. Rybakina also felt this but was relieved to have finally got used to it after previous struggles in training as she tried to get her head around how the ball would act.

"Honestly, I didn’t expect that I would put so many balls in," the world number six said. "I’d say that because it’s only the third day for me, and in the first few practices everything was flying too much. It’s a little bit high altitude here, so it’s not easy to control the ball. But I knew that if I served well, I’d get easier balls and wouldn’t have to defend as much. So I’m happy that I stayed on top of the rallies."

Rybakina has come out on top in her previous six matches before the clash against Anisimova, with her peaking at the right time after enduring an up and down season. Qualification at one point looked perilous, but a superb Asian swing in which she won the Ningbo Open title firmly put her back into the race, with a semi-final appearance at the Pan Pacific Open enough to jump above Mirra Andreeva in the rankings. While she did not play in the rest of the event in Tokyo, she is now fresh for the final event in 2025, with her pleased with how she has managed the prior events.

"I think it’s great that I managed to play well in the last few tournaments," Rybakina said. "But the most important thing isn’t only the wins — I really felt the improvement during those matches. I played a lot of tough opponents, some of the girls I actually lost to before, so I could feel the improvement in each match. That’s what I’m happiest about, and the results just followed from that."

The work is far from complete, however, with a challenging clash against Iga Swiatek next in her group. The Pole dropped just three games in her opening match triumph against Australian Open champion Madison Keys and will be eyeing-up another clinical display against Rybakina. The 2022 Wimbledon champion has failed to beat Swiatek in her previous five meetings, with four of them coming in this year.