Elena Rybakina dropped the opening set of Sunday’s Ningbo final, a rude reminder that she was facing a talented Russian against whom she had lost three of her previous four matches.
Undaunted, the former Wimbledon champion fought back and claimed a hard-fought 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory to claim her tenth career title and significantly increase her chances of reaching this year’s WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Rybakina, currently ninth in the race for the Riyadh rankings, must reach the semi-finals next week in Tokyo to overtake Mirra Andreeva for the final spot.
She won her second title of the year on Sunday, winning 12 of her last 14 matches to improve to 2-3 lifetime against 10th-ranked Alexandrova.
More to follow.
