The fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) achieved a hard three-set victory versus Maria Sakkari (Greece) in the second match of Group A of the WTA Finals in Cancun (Mexico). The Kazakhstani tennis player won by 2-1 (6:0, 6:7, 7:6) in 2:26 hours to win the match and keep her chances to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament with a prize pool of 9 million USD.
Elena Rybakina won her first set on zero, recording 8 winners against 10 unforced errors for her opponent. Maria Sakkari was powerless in the first set and won only six points in the first five games. She found her style of play only in the sixth game of the set reaching even a breakpoint at the serve of her opponent, but in the end, Elena Rybakina won the game and closed the set at 6:0.
The second set was quite more equal and although Maria Sakkari needed to save two breakpoints in the first game and one break point in the fifth game, both players won their serve games to move the set into a tiebreak. Elena Rybakina started the tiebreak with two points in her favor, but the Greek tennis player overturned the score and eventually won by 7-4 to equalize the sets.
The third decisive set was again quite disputed. Elena Rybakina saved three breakpoints in the first game but succeeded in winning it and took a lead of 4:2 after a break in the 6th game. Maria Sakkari immediately returned the break and was close to breaking her opponent again in the 9th game, but the Kazakhstani tennis player saved two breakpoints. Thus, the set entered a tiebreak again and this time Elena Rybakina was quite more concentrated and took a lead of 6-0, which proved to be more than enough for her to win by 7-2.
Thus, Elena Rybakina won the match and recorded her first win at the WTA Finals in Cancun after in the first match lost to Jessica Pegula. In her last match, the Kazakhstani tennis player will face the top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and the winner will qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.
On the other hand, Maria Sakkari lost chances to advance in the tournament after two losses. In her last match, she will face Jessica Pegula.
