Behind 15 aces, Rybakina ousts Pegula to reach WTA Finals championship match

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Perhaps more than anyone, Jessica Pegula knew what she was getting in Friday’s WTA Finals semifinals -- Elena Rybakina, the hottest player in women’s tennis.

“She seems like she’s been the most seamless throughout this entire tournament,” Pegula said. “We all know how she can play, huge game, big serve. I think these conditions definitely suit her. Coming off a hot Asian swing where she was kind of under pressure to qualify and all this stuff, it seems like she’s hitting every single mark.”

The No. 6-seeded Rybakina hit another big one Friday night, defeating No. 5 Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to Saturday’s championship match at the WTA Finals. She’ll play the winner of the later match between No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 4 Amanda Anismova.

Rybakina has now won 10 straight matches, the past four against Top 10 players, running her Top 10 streak to six in a row. She finished the night with 15 aces and broke Pegula’s serve five times.

Going in, Pegula led the head-to-head 3-2, but the two had played only once since 2023. Rybakina was a straight-sets winner earlier this year in a Billie Jean King Cup quarterfinal.

Rybakina was 3-0 in Serena Williams Group play, defeating Anisimova, Iga Swiatek and alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova, a feat matched by Sabalenka in the Stefanie Graf Group.

Pegula finished in second place in the Graf Group with a 2-1 record, upending defending champion Coco Gauff and Jasmine Pasolini and falling to Sabalenka. The 31-year-old Pegula, making her fourth straight appearance, is the oldest player to reach the WTA Finals since 37-year-old Venus Williams in 2017.

Pegula won the coin toss -- and elected to receive against the Hologic WTA Tour ace leader this year (now at 503). Rybakina, predictably, crushed two aces to win the first game in about two minutes.

Pegula broke Rybakina to take a 2-1 lead but gave it right back. The break in the fifth game, though, held up the rest of the way. Rybakina finished the frame with five aces, but made too many mistakes, most of them overcooked forehands. Serving for the set at 30-all, Pegula unleashed her first ace, dotting the T, and Rybakina’s last forehand found the net.

Rybakina ran out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, breaking Pegula in the fourth game. But, with Rybakina serving for the set at 5-4, Pegula turned the match back on serve. A Rybakina double fault was the pivotal point.

But with a chance to even the count, Pegula came up short in a five-deuce game. Rybakina stroked a backhand into the open court, converting her second set point and the match headed to the third.

The decisive break came in the sixth game as Rybakina took a 4-2 lead that held up the rest of the way. Match time was 2 hours, 5 minutes.

Rybakina will like her chances in the final. This is practically a home game for Rybakina, who lives in Dubai, a short 500-mile flight away, and likes the ace-friendly indoor court at King Saud University.

Click here to read article