Elena Rybakina stays perfect at WTA Finals with win over alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova

– Elena Rybakina stayed unbeaten at the WTA Finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over second alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova on Nov 5 after Madison Keys withdrew from their final round-robin meeting with illness and Mirra Andreeva was not fit to play.

Rybakina arrived for the clash after victories over Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek but the former Wimbledon champion came under pressure against a fresh Alexandrova, before breaking in the ninth game and then claiming the opening set with a hold.

The Kazakh, who staved off three breakpoints in the first set, cranked up her big serve and heavy hitting early in the second to go 3-1 up and applied the squeeze to close in on another win ahead of the semi-finals.

Another break courtesy of a powerful return of serve left Rybakina one game away and the 26-year-old eventually wrapped up the victory despite some struggles on her own delivery late in the clash at King Saud University Sports Arena.

“Ekaterina is always a tough opponent and has a big serve,” said Rybakina, who was playing with taping on her shoulder.

“I’m happy I was able to win in straight sets.

“Each win gives you confidence and I’m pretty happy that for now my last matches have been great.”

The Kazakh world No. 6 extended her current winning streak to nine of her last nine matches contested, and will face one of Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula or Coco Gauff in the Nov 7 semi-finals.

Swiatek and Anisimova met later on Nov 5 in a winner-takes-all match to decide who joins Rybakina in the last four as the second-best player from the Serena Williams Group at the end of the round-robin stage. That match ended after press time.

In overnight action on Nov 4, top-seeded Sabalenka battled past Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

The Belarusian world No. 1 could convert only four of the 16 break points she created, as Pegula fought until the bitter end.

A total of 10 of Pegula’s last 11 matches have gone to three sets. This was just her second three-set loss within that stretch.

“She’s an incredible player. She always pushes me to that limit,” said Sabalenka of her fifth-seeded opponent.

“In the third set, I just told myself to go for it. She pushed me and I love it.

“I love playing against her because it’s always great matches, great level, great points.”

Meanwhile, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will play in January’s Auckland Classic at the age of 45, tournament organisers announced on Nov 5.

Williams has been awarded a wild card for the Australian Open warmup event from Jan 5 to 11 after returning to the circuit only in August at the US Open after a 16-month break.

“She is one of the great players in the modern era and her performances on the court speak for themselves,” said tournament director Nicolas Lamperin, who added that she was in “remarkable shape and form”.

In men’s tennis, Novak Djokovic fought back tears after his second-round win at the Hellenic Championship in Athens on Nov 4 after tournament organisers played a tribute video to his former coach Nikola Pilic, who died in September aged 86.

In his playing days, Croatian Pilic was runner-up at the French Open in 1973 and after turning to coaching captained Germany to three Davis Cup titles between 1988 and 1993.

Djokovic, who joined Pilic’s academy in Germany when he was 12, was visibly moved during the video, which played after the 24-time Grand Slam champion defeated Alejandro Tabilo 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

“It was an emotional moment,” the 38-year-old told the ATP website.

“Considering what he meant to me and my family – privately, also professionally – he was my tennis father as I like to call him, someone who has played a fundamental, integral role in my development as a tennis player and as a human being.

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