Preview WTA Finals Day Three: Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina clash for group lead, Anisimova and Keys seeks redemption

Day Three of the WTA Finals will be disputed this Monday in Riyadh, featuring the return of the Serena Williams Group, with the players competing in their second respective matches. The winners from the first day, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina, will face each other looking to take the group lead—and virtually secure their qualification.

On the other side, the Americans Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys will need to recover from convincing defeats on the first day of competition. Anisimova barely won 4 games and Keys only three, so both require a victory—ideally in straight sets—if they want to keep their hopes of advancing to the semi-finals alive.

The first day for Iga Swiatek was an impressive performance from the serve, winning 83% of her first serve points, and also showing her strength on the return, securing 5 breaks in just 7 of Keys' service games, to take the victory 6-1, 6-2. The Pole—champion in Riyadh in 2023—took the group lead and started these WTA Finals at a high level.

She will face the always complicated Elena Rybakina, a player who has not yet achieved great results at the WTA Finals, having been eliminated in the Round Robin in her previous appearances in 2023 and 2024. However—unlike previous years—Rybakina started with a victory this time, a convincing 6-3, 6-1 against 2-time Grand Slam runner-up Amanda Anisimova.

With 10 previous encounters, Swiatek currently dominates the H2H 6-4, including a 4-match winning streak in 2025, which allowed her to overturn a previous 2-4 negative H2H. Their last meeting was in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals, just over two months ago, where Swiatek took the victory in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.

A straight-sets win would practically assure both Swiatek and Rybakina passage to the semi-finals of the tournament—though still dependent on the result between Anisimova and Keys. In any case, the healthy game difference secured by both in the first round puts them in an advantageous position—even for the one who suffers a defeat in this head-to-head.

An all-American duel for the second match of the Serena Williams Group. World No. 4 Amanda Anisimova was far from her best level and was overshadowed in her debut against Rybakina, where the Kazakh dominated the rallies and Anisimova never felt loose with her forehand. The 24-year-old star is the only debutante at the WTA Finals this year, and the lack of experience in a Round Robin system could be a factor in her two remaining matches.

Undoubtedly, this will be a duel between two big ball-strikers. Against Keys, we can expect power from both players, especially with the forehand—although Anisimova's backhand has been one of her strong points this season. Keys is playing the WTA Finals 9 years after her last qualification, and although her recent performance hasn't been great, her Australian Open title at the start of the year certifies her as someone who has the weapons to defeat anyone when confident and physically fit.

However, the convincing defeat against Swiatek on the first day made her look out of form on the serve, winning only 38% of service points, and accumulating a total of 33 unforced errors.

Curiously, Anisimova and Keys have never faced each other on the Tour so far, making this their first encounter. The 30-year-old arrives with a 37-14 record for the season and two titles (Aussie Open and Brisbane), while Anisimova has a 45-17 record this year—and also two titles (Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and China Open).