The Belarusian, who is in her fifth Finals, beats Anisimova, while the Kazakh eliminates Pegula

The world number one, the favorite, against a player who has found her best form in this season finale: Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, both undefeated, will battle it out for the title in Riyadh. Whatever the outcome, the Finals will have a new queen in the record books (last year’s winner was Gauff). The Belarusian defeated the American Anisimova, who played one of her best matches, in three tough sets with a show of strength. This season, after losing two Slam finals, in Australia and Paris, Sabalenka won the US Open and regained the mental calm to dominate with her powerful and aggressive tennis. Against Anisimova and her lightning-fast Sinner-style backhand, she needed all her personality in the decisive moments (and her first serve) to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 after an exciting and highly technical battle lasting 2 hours and 21 minutes. This is Sabalenka’s fifth consecutive Finals, but victory has yet to come: she will have the chance tomorrow, after her only final loss in 2022 against Garcia. Rybakina is the surprise of these Finals: after dropping out of the top ten in the summer, she qualified with an excellent end to the season. She is playing great tennis in Riyadh: the match where she struggled the most was the semifinal against Pegula, which she won in a comeback 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Kazakh made a lot of mistakes, but she kept pushing and in the end her talent broke down the defense of an excellent American player.

It is a tug-of-war, which begins immediately with powerful shots, but also with class. Sabalenka responds very aggressively to the American’s second serves, who saves herself by adjusting her serve in a 10-minute first game. It was also difficult for Aryna to hold serve for 1-1: she saved three break points after suffering magnificent backhand winners from Amanda. The match was a furious battle: half an hour for four games, all fiercely contested. Sabalenka saved her serve again thanks to several aces and Anisimova’s forehand errors: 2-2. The fifth game, like the previous ones, also went to deuce. The tennis is of the highest quality: Anisimova’s forehand is not up to her magnificent and very fast backhand, and Sabalenka manages to use her power and precision to take the first break: 3-2. The balance of the score is broken, but not that of the game: the sixth game also goes to deuce; Sabalenka closes with two aces: her serve is her secret weapon so far and leads her to victory in a tough and spectacular first set. Aryna needs all her athleticism to take it home.

The first semifinal—  Rybakina arrived at the semifinal undefeated, and her serve had earned her many points throughout the week. But this time, her service games are not going so smoothly (she had only lost two up to this point): three breaks in a row, two by Pegula, and it’s 4-2 for the American. The Kazakh, coming off her serve, suffers from Pegula’s deep and incisive returns on her forehand. Elena makes many errors and also appears to be bothered by shoulder discomfort. She is more tense than in previous days, less fluid in her shots. The American manages the set well: organized on serve, solid in response.
At 5-4, Rybakina has a surge with two great points, but the American remains composed: she earns set point with an ace down the middle, and the Kazakh does the rest with a ball into the net.
Rybakina started the second set with more composure and immediately put her opponent in difficulty, who came back from 0-40 on her serve. It was an intense game, full of winning shots, which ultimately rewarded the American, who remained determined even in difficult moments. At 2-1 to Rybakina, Pegula found herself 0-40 again, but this time she managed to break: 3-1. When the match seemed to be heading for a third set, the American broke again (5-4 for the Kazakh). The tenth game, the longest, was breathless: the American saved one set point, but the second was the charm; Rybakina closed it out with a cross-court backhand: here comes the third set. The decisive set remains balanced until 3-2, then there are three breaks in a row, as in the first set: 5-3. The Kazakh’s power eventually breaks down the American’s strenuous defense. In the last game on serve, Rybakina unleashes all her power on serve and flies to her first final at the Finals.