\n\tRIYADH: Elena Rybakina produced a commanding performance to defeat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) and capture the WTA Finals singles title in Riyadh on Saturday, concluding a landmark week for women\u2019s tennis in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\n\tRybakina started strongly, controlling the rallies with her trademark precision and powerful serve, before closing out the second set with a flawless tiebreak. The victory is one of the Kazakh player\u2019s most impressive wins of the season and adds another major title to her growing resume.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the post-match press conference, in response to Arab News questions, Rybakina praised Sabalenka\u2019s intensity and consistency, describing her as \u201ca great champion\u201d and highlighting her ability to maintain such a high level over several seasons.<\/p>\n
\n\tShe said she had to stay composed and raise her own performance to match Sabalenka\u2019s aggressive style of play.<\/p>\n
\n\tSabalenka, who has reached several major finals this year, admitted that while she tried to fight back throughout the match, things did not always go her way on the day.<\/p>\n
\n\tSpeaking to Arab News, Sabalenka said that despite the loss, she is proud of her efforts this season and plans to take time to reflect and learn from the experience.<\/p>\n
\n\tShe added that she intends to analyze her emotions and performances with her team to come back stronger next year.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the doubles final, Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens were dominant from start to finish, overpowering T\u00edmea Babos and Luisa Stefani to lift the WTA Finals doubles trophy.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe pair\u2019s chemistry and tactical sharpness proved decisive, sealing their victory in straight sets and underlining their reputation as one of the tour\u2019s most consistent partnerships.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe WTA Finals in Riyadh brought the 2025 women\u2019s tennis season to a close, setting another milestone in the Kingdom\u2019s growing role as a global host for major sporting events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH: Elena Rybakina produced a commanding performance to defeat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1138],"tags":[217,246,2922,1145],"class_list":["post-66085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wta-finals","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-elena-rybakina","tag-riyadh","tag-wta-finals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}