World Tennis Continental Cup Round-Up | Advantage Europe as Iga Swiatek dismisses Elena Rybakina after Bencic opens with win

The World Tennis Continental Cup began on Friday in Shenzhen, China with the first meeting of the new season between Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek albeit it was a pretty comfortable win for Swiatek who won 6-3, 6-3.

Rybakina was last of course seen at the WTA Finals just over a month ago winning the title in emphatic style after only getting into the tournament late. She was due to play World Tennis League but she decided to withdraw owing to the fact that she was playing Shenzhen and then Brisbane next week which begins the new tennis season.

Swiatek played late into the season with involvement in the Billie Jean King Cup Play-Offs for Poland but she returned in earnest today and Rybakina as is often noticed doesn't tend to fare that well in exhibitions.

Rybakina held serve on her first service game but then the Pole took control breaking her opponent twice to take a 4-1 lead. Rybakina struggled to find answers to the World No.2 and Swiatek extended her lead to 5-1. After only 35 minutes, Swiatek eventually won the first set 6-3. The second set was competitive at the start, in the fifth game, Rybakina managed to break but Swiatek immediately broke back. At 3-3, the rest of the tie was dominated by Swiatek.

Late on in the tie at 4-3 for Swiatek, Rybakina was 40-15 up on her serve but spurned it as Swiatek exerted maximum pressure and got two bites of the cherry on advantage to go one away from the win. Rybakina saved the second with an exquisite backhand winner but Swiatek got a lucky net cord winner which Rybakina couldn't reach to break. Swiatek breezed through her service game as Rybakina offered little resistance in trying to get the break back.

Belinda Bencic started off the tournament facing off against Xinyu Wang who in reality should've had the win sewn up or at least got the chance to win.

It went all the way to a decisive match tie-break as is the case in these events after Bencic lost the first set narrowly 6-4. She eased through the second 6-2 so in reality had the ascendancy it seemed albeit she looked like she was going to be defeated in the tie-break as Xinyu Wang went 5-3 up.

But Bencic won the last seven points in a row to seal the win pretty emphatically in the end with a late surge providing the tonic for the Swiss ace who anchored Team Europe into a winning position early.

Bencic won Comeback Player of the Year at the 2025 WTA Awards recently and will aim to have an even better 2026 than she did her comeback year. Signs were there in some of her play that she is playing well but of course it is an exhibition so all sort of preconceived notions are left at the door.

Onto tomorrow and Iga Swiatek will return. Elena Rybakina will not until she plays mixed doubles on the final day. The Pole takes on Xinyu Wang who lost earlier today against Bencic. While it turns attention to the men with Flavio Cobolli facing Zhizhen Zhang. As Shanghai Master Valentin Vacherot returns to China to face off against Andrey Rublev.

Cobolli, Swiatek and Vacherot lead the way for Team Europe on Day Two while Zhang, Wang and Rublev lead Team World. It is