Rybakina books Rome Open final over Ostapenko

Elena Rybakina will contest the 3rd WTA 1000 final of the season at the Rome Open securing a spot in the final by beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4.

Elena Rybakina has been one of the best players in the world this year. One could argue that she's been better than all of them as this will be her 3rd WTA 1000 final of the season. She also played in the Australian Open final so that's four major finals this year. She lost in Melbourne, won in Indian Wells, lost in Miami and now will take on Kalinina in Rome.

The match itself was a continuation of great play by Rybakina as he simply outlasted Ostapenko. There are two ways a match against Opstanko can go. Either she goes nuclear and smashes 176 winners or she goes erratic and commits 167 errors. This was more of a latter because Rybakina pushed her quite hard and even when things started to go her way in the second set.

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The second set opened with Ostapenko finding better solutions but then the rain came and she wasn't very happy. The match stopped and started a few times because Ostapenko refused to play in the rain while Rybakina was willing. Eventually, the match continued with Ostapenko channelling her erratic self and slamming balls wide repeatedly.

The 4-2 lead turned in a 4-6 loss as Rybakina calmly stood by and watched her opponent implode.