WTA Finals: Elena Rybakina stuns Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova eliminates Madison Keys

Rybakina, who secured her place in the year-end tournament just two weeks ago, responded strongly as Swiatek took the first set with an early break of serve.

Tour leader for total aces in 2025 (480), the hard-hitting Rybakina found a serving rhythm and forced Swiatek to play deep behind the baseline, while Swiatek’s first serve points dropped from 90% in the first set to 53% in the second.

A double break ensured Rybakina quickly restored parity – and the result never looked in doubt after she came back from 40-15 down to break Swiatek’s serve early in the final set.

A weakened Swiatek was powerless to stop her opponent’s advance as she committed 42 unforced errors – 36 of which came in the second and third sets – compared to just 12 winners.

Rybakina completed her first win over Swiatek for 19 months with a second ace to extend her winning streak to eight matches.

The one-sided result also made Swiatek the first player to lose 6-0 in the third set in three matches in one season since 2013.

In the doubles competitions, Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko confirmed their place in the knockout stage with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italians Sarah Errani and Yasmine Paolini.

Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova defeated Asia Muhammad and Demi Shores with a score of 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 10-6.