Elena Rybakina confirms her shoulder is definitely causing her some trouble but remains hopeful that it "won't get worse" when she meets Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Finals final.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion, who has been playing with a strapped right shoulder throughout the season-ending tournament in Riyadh, was visibly in pain and discomfort during her semifinal match against Jessica Pegula. During one changeover, the world No. 6 was caught stretching and massaging her shoulder.
Rubbing your shoulder as the pain starts to settle in, you stretch your arm, hoping for even the slightest bit of relief. Elena, thank you for being the fighter you are, for never giving up on yourself. May your pain ease soon, and all the best to you, always pic.twitter.com/G4mtXffS9D
— rybakina gallery (@ryballery) November 7, 2025
Despite the shoulder issue and losing the first set, Rybakina still found a way to win after pulling off a 4-6 6-4 6-3 win over Pegula.
Now, the Kazakh tennis star is set for a major challenge since she is due to battle against world No. 1 Sabalenka in her maiden title match at the WTA Finals.
Rybakina on her shoulder: I've been managing it… Hopefully, it doesn't get worse against Sabalenka
“Hopefully I can recover for tomorrow. It’s been a lot of matches, and I also serve big, so I had to adjust a little bit. For now, I’m pushing myself — it’s one last match left, so I’ll try to do everything possible with the team to recover. At the same time, we don’t want to make it worse before the offseason. We’ll see how it goes, but for now, I’ve been managing, and hopefully it’s not going to be worse tomorrow," the 26-year-old admitted.
Facing Sabalenka in a major final is one of the most difficult tasks in the game and there is no doubt that Rybakina will need her shoulder to hold properly to have a legitimate shot at beating the world No. 1.
