Elena Rybakina beat alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4 6-4 to win the round robin group at the WTA Finals in Ryiadh with a perfect record of three wins in as many matches.
Before the match Alexandrova replaced Madison Keys, who pulled out of the match after suffering from a viral illness. The first alternate was Mirra Andreeva, was not fit enough to play one day after playing with Diana Schnaider in the doubles match. The second alternate Alexandrova had the chance to make her debut at the WTA Finals.
Rybakina saved three break points across two separate games in the early stages of the match. The Kazakh player earned the first break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 and served out the first set with a hold at love in the 10th game.
Rybakina broke Alexandrova twice in the third and seventh games of the second set to open up a 5-2 lead. Alexandrova pulled out one break back in the eighth game, as Rybakina was serving for the match. Rybakina saved two more break points as she was attempting to serve it out at 5-4 before sealing the win with her eighth ace on the second match point.
“Ekaterina is always a tough opponent. She has a big serve, and especially in the beginning it was difficult to return, so I’m pretty happy that I managed to win in two sets in the end”, said Elena Rybakina.
