WTA Finals: Rybakina holds off Sakkari in third-set tiebreake to keep semi-final hopes alive
The former Wimbledon champion will face off against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday with a semi-final berth on the line for the winner
Elena Rybakina 2024
Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina kept her hopes of reaching the WTA Finals alive after a three set-win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari in Cancun, Mexico on Tuesday.
Rybakina, who lost her opening round-robin match to American Jessica Pegula, started the match on a strong footing, winning the first set 6-0 before Sakkari fought back to take the second in a tiebreak.
In the decider, Rybakina went ahead by a break to lead 4-2 but Sakkari pulled even once again, to 4-4 and had two break point chances to go ahead 5-4. But the Kazakh saved those and when the match went into a deciding tiebreak, she won it 7-2 to complete the 6-0, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) win in two hours and 25 minutes.
Rybakina to square off with Sabalenka on Thursday for semis spot
With each player now having played two matches in the Bacalar group, American Jessica Pegula is through to the semi-finals, having won both her matches so far.
Rybakina, the first Kazakh to compete in the WTA Finals in singles, and Aryna Sabalenka, who was defeated by Pegula in the first match on Thursday, have one win each and will square off for the second semi-final spot while Sakkari, who is now 0-2, is out of contention for a semi-final spot. The Greek had reached the semis in both her previous appearances at the WTA Finals.
- Jessica Pegula 2-0
- Aryna Sabalenka 1-1
- Elena Rybakina 1-1
- Maria Sakkari 0-2
