Elena Rybakina entered Monday’s match with a four-match losing streak against Iga Swiatek. That streak is over.
WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Rybakina rallied past No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in 1 hour 37 minutes to improve to 2-0 at this year’s WTA Finals.
With Amanda Anisimova’s win later over Madison Keys, Rybakina clinched the No. 1 seed in the Serena Williams Group and advanced to the semifinals for the first time in her career.
Rybakina also became just the second player to beat Swiatek in 2025 after dropping the opening set, a feat previously accomplished only by Keys at the Australian Open.
“She brings so much intensity to the court,” Rybakina said after the match. “I feel like she started the match really well and I was a little bit slow, so on serve straight away, she broke me. It was difficult to be down, but in the second set, I pushed myself.
“My serve improved, and I’m really happy that I stepped in and played better each point. I’m very happy with my performance.”
Swiatek is now 54-2 this season after winning the first set, while Rybakina improves to 8-15 when dropping the opening set this year.
The victory extends Rybakina’s dominant stretch of play not just in Riyadh, but across the entire Asian Swing. She’s won each of the last eight matches she’s contested, and 10 of the last 11, with the lone loss coming against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
“I’ve been playing really well the past few weeks,” Rybakina said. “I was improving in each match, and the results were following after. Even here, I’m trying to focus on the little details, and it’s a great opportunity to play against the top players.
“I’m really excited for my next match, and hopefully I can bring the same intensity and the same game.”
If she does, the rest of the WTA Finals field may be in trouble, as Rybakina looked untouchable in the final two sets.
Despite dropping the first set, she started strong, forcing a break point in the opening game. But Swiatek brushed it aside with a forehand winner, then broke Rybakina in the next game. It was her 315th break point converted this season, extending her tour-best mark.
Unbeknownst to her, it would be the only break point she’d convert in the match.
But that lone break was enough in the first set, as Swiatek dominated on serve, winning 90% of her first-serve points. Rybakina, meanwhile, struggled to keep the ball in the court, committing 17 unforced errors. But even then, Rybakina was actually striking the ball quite well.
It was a sign of things to come.
The final two sets were all Rybakina, as she flipped the script on Swiatek. Her forehand found its range, turning those errors into winners. All the while, Swiatek’s serve faltered, as she dropped to just 50% of first-serves won in the second set, while Rybakina surged to 83%.
And as Rybakina surged, Swiatek unraveled, committing 36 unforced errors in the final two sets after just six in the opening set.
The result: Rybakina won 12 of the last 13 games and handed Swiatek, a.k.a. The Bagel Queen, a rare bagel of her own in the decider.
Despite not often being on the other end of bagels, this particular one left Swiatek in rarified air she would’ve liked to avoid.
She became the first player to lose three matches in a season with a 0-6 third-set scoreline since Flavia Pennetta in 2013, having previously suffered the same fate against Aryna Sabalenka at Roland Garros and Emma Navarro in Beijing.
On Rybakina’s side of the court, there was plenty to celebrate.
She’s already surpassed her win total from each of the past two WTA Finals, where she went 1-2 and was eliminated in the round-robin stage both times. Monday’s win also marked her 11th victory over a top two player since Wimbledon 2022, the most of any player in that span.
It was her 56th win of the season, a career-best, and her 40 wins on hard courts trail only one player on tour: Swiatek.