Elena Rybakina reached the semi-finals of the WTA Finals with an impressive comeback win over Igo Sviatek in Riyadh.
Sviatek has won all four meetings against Rybakina in 2025 and threatened to add a fifth when an early break opened the way for her to take the first set 6-3.
But Rybakina came back in style, dropping just one game to go as she swept the next two sets 6-1 6-0 to record her fifth win over the world no.2.
Rybakina’s passage to the last four was later confirmed after Amanda Anisimova eliminated Madison Keys, and the Kazakh still has a chance to progress with a clean sheet when she next plays Keys on Thursday.
Sviatekova’s future at the tournament is uncertain, however, as work is desperately needed to secure her place in the season-ending semi-finals in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s always very difficult to play against Iga, she brings so much intensity to the court,” Rybakina said. Ski Sports Tennis.
“She had a great start to the match, I was a little slow and she broke my serve right away, so it was hard to fall behind.”
But in the second set I pushed myself, my serve improved and I was really happy to play better with each point.
Fourth seed Anisimova bounced back and also came from a set down against compatriot American Keys to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 in her second round match.
Sviatek will take on Anisimova in the final group matches as the pair fight for their place in the semi-finals as they both lost to Rybakina and won in second place.
Fernley were knocked out in the first round in Athens
Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley suffered his third consecutive first-round exit after losing in straight sets to Bosnian Damir Dzumhur at the Hellenic Championship.
Fearnley made it through two qualifying rounds to reach the Vienna Open and Paris Masters in October, only to lose their opening matches to Alexander Zverev and Andrei Rublev, respectively.
The British No.3 fared no better in Athens as he succumbed to a 6-4 6-2 defeat by the world No.58 in 77 minutes.
Watch the ATP and VTA Tour finals, live on Ski Sports or stream from NOW and the Ski Sports applicationgiving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 percent more live sports this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.