It is probably just as well for Elena Rybakina that she is so adept at playing her cards close to her chest. As the 24-year-old stood within two points of sealing her second title of the year at the Abu Dhabi Open, a forehand from Daria Kasatkina clipped the net cord and dropped over for a winner. Seconds later, a light sprinkling of rain began to fall, and play was suspended.
Rybakina is famed for her tranquil exterior but, as she glided serenely back to her chair, beneath the surface her inner duck must have been paddling furiously. Six months ago in Montreal, the Kazakhstani served for victory against Kasatkina in identical circumstances – a set up and serving at 5-4, 30-15 – only for the Russian to climb off the canvas and level the match. By the time Rybakina finally prevailed in a third-set tiebreak, three hours and 27 minutes had passed and it was almost 3am. With a potential straight-sets win once again threatening to turn into something altogether more complicated, the sense of déjà vu was palpable.
This time, though, there would be no repeat. The rain dissipated, Rybakina slammed down a pair of huge serves, and a searing plus-one forehand confirmed a 6-1, 6-4 victory. With a second WTA 500 title of the season secured, all that remained was for Rybakina to amble impassively towards the net, a quiet clench of the fist the only sign that anything out of the ordinary had occurred.
Rybakina’s season has, of course, been anything but ordinary. She has won 11 of her 13 matches so far, and 22 of the 28 sets she has contested. Eight of those sets have been clinched for the loss of one game or less, most notably against Aryna Sabalenka, who was subjected to a first-set whitewash in the Brisbane International final as she fell to her only defeat of the year to date. The only meaningful blemish is a second-round loss to Anna Blinkova at the Australian Open, where the former Wimbledon champion was a finalist last year, after holding six match points.
“Of course, the main focus is always [the] grand slams,” said Rybakina, who will rise one place to fourth in the rankings on Monday. “It didn’t happen this time in Melbourne, but I had a really great first week of the season [in Brisbane] and also now [in Abu Dhabi]. I think I’m on a good path.”
Few would dispute that. Seeded first at a WTA event for only the second time in her career, Rybakina lived up to her billing with a combination of brilliance and belligerence, battling back from a set down to defeat Danielle Collins in the opening round, cruising past Spain’s Cristina Bucșa, and finally getting the better of Liudmila Samsonova, her perennial bête noire, for the first time in five meetings. Against Kasatkina, Rybakina marshalled her power to hit through the blustery conditions, claiming 75% of her first service points and clobbering 17 winners to compound the difficulties facing an opponent who struggled to find her range.
“I started aggressive and I also moved really well,” said Rybakina. “For Daria’s style of the game, I think she needs a bit of time to get used to the pace and to get some rhythm.
“It was more difficult, of course, in the second set and she played really well. We had longer rallies, the balls became also a little bit older, so it was not easy.”
Kasatkina had won two of their four previous meetings, but the 26-year-old laboured throughout to find her trademark consistency, particularly in the early stages, where a relentless tide of forehands flew long. A natural counter-puncher, the Russian thrives in situations where she can absorb pressure with her outstanding defensive game while employing clever variations of pace and direction to cause damage at the other end. But a tally of 27 unforced errors – including nine double faults, several of which came at key moments – meant Kasatkina was never able to settle.
“I didn’t have enough in the tank for the finals, I squeezed everything I had left,” said Kasatkina, whose draining semi-final win over Beatriz Haddad Maia lasted almost three hours.
“It wasn’t enough against a player like Elena, where you have to be at your best to have a chance to beat her. Unfortunately, the tournament ended this way, but there’s a lot of positives in this week. There’s nothing to be sad about, but of course it’s always disappointing to lose in the finals.”
Kasatkina’s best moments came after Rybakina broke with an explosive backhand winner in the third game of the second set. Showing greater aggression and feel, she conjured a deft angled slice on the way to an immediate break back, but it was to be an afternoon when every step forward was accompanied by two in the opposite direction. A double fault handed Rybakina three break points in the next game, and although Kasatkina once again hit back at the first time of asking, rifling an exquisite backhand winner to draw level at 3-3, an unreachable forehand approach from Rybakina sealed a decisive break in the ninth game.
There will be little time to celebrate. Rybakina face Zhu Lin of China on Tuesday at the Qatar Open, although she has at least avoided the fate of Kasatkina, who plays her compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Monday lunchtime. Kasatkina made her displeasure clear following her semi-final win – “Are you guys trying to make players die, or to get injured?” she inquired – and doubled down on her position before boarding an evening flight to Doha.
“The next event is starting for me in a few hours,” said Kasatkina. “That’s a pity, I would say. Definitely I don’t know how I’m going to recover, so let’s see.”
At the WTA 250 event in Cluj-Napoca, Karolina Pliskova claimed her first title in four years with a 6-4, 6-3 win over home favourite Ana Bogdan.
“[I’m feeling] quite strong emotions, because I didn’t win a title for a couple of years,” said Pliskova, whose last tournament win was in Brisbane in 2020. “Super happy about this week. Definitely before the tournament when I came I didn’t have the expectation to win.”