By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, November 3, 2025
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty for WTA
Winless in four meetings with Iga Swiatek this season, Elena Rybakina took the court with a palate for payback.
Today, Rybakina dished a declarative shutout set to bagel queen Swiatek in a resounding Riyadh statement victory.
Rybakina reeled off nine games in a row completing a titanic turnaround in thrashing Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 at the WTA Finals.
After surrendering serve in her opening service game, Rybakina dropped the hammer on the second seed. Rybakina force-fed Swiatek her first bagel set since she lost to American Emma Navarro 4-6, 6-4, 0-6 at the China Open in Beijing last month.
It is Rybakia’s first win over Swiatek since the 2024 Stuttgart semifinals. Rybakina not only served sharply, she broke Swiatek in five of her last six service games. Overall, Rybakina won 14 of 23 second-serve points and converted five of seven break points.
“It’s always very tough to play against Iga—she brings so much intensity to the court,” Rybakina told Andrew Krasny. “She started really well the match. She broke me. It was difficult to be down.
“The second set I pushed myself, the serve improved… I’m very happy with the performance. Thank you so much for the support.”
The last woman to qualify for the elite eight in Riyadh, Rybakina is now the front-runner to advance to the semifinals. Rybakina improved to 2-0, including 4-1 in sets, in the Serena Williams Group of the round-robin event.
Rybakina dismantled Amanda Anisimova’s forehand in a 6-3, 6-1 rout on opening day. If Anisimova defeats Madison Keys in today’s second round-robin match then Rybakina qualifies for the final four.
Resilience, a booming serve and her willingness to attack Swiatek’s forehand wing and force the Pole to counter deep drives from that forehand corner were all essential elements to Rybakina’s impressive comeback win today.
“Mentally I definitely stayed focused no matter if I lost the first set I was still trying to stay aggressive,” Rybakina said. “I was trying to follow the tactic and focusing more on my serve. I got some confidence leading in the second set and everything was going my way.”
An absolute comeback! @lenarybakina grabs her first win of the year over Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-0. #WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/DMclMlJwOP
— wta (@WTA) November 3, 2025
Swiatek saved a break point in her opening service game, then locked in and reeled off 11 consecutive points on serve.
Spreading the court with twisting topspin forehands, Swiatek drew successive errors breaking for a 2-0 lead.
The Wimbledon winner backed up the break at love for a 3-0 advantage after 11 minutes of play.
As the set progressed, Rybakina was dialing in her drives more effectively. However, Swiatek’s superior movement and consistency helped her sustain the lead.
Thumping a heavy serve down the T, Swiatek sealed the 35-minute opener on her second set point. Swiatek won 90 percent of her first-serve points and used the slice serve down the T sharply in the first set.
Though Rybakina doubled Swiatek’s winner output in the opener—10 to 5—she committed 11 more unforced errors (17 to 6) as well.
Shaking off the first set, Rybakina was striking with more authority to start the second set. Though Swiatek hits her forehand with more topspin than any of the elite eight in Riyadh, net clearance became an issue. Swiatek double faulted into the net to face break point then bashed a forehand into the bottom of the net as Rybakina broke in the second game.
Rybakina rifled an ace down the T holding at love for a 3-0 second-set lead.
Overall, the sixth seed did a better job of mixing up her serve spins. At times, Rybakina hit confounding kick serves wide on the ad side and down the T on the deuce and other tips she sped lower slice serves unsettling Swiatek. Displacing the Pole with the wide kick, Rybakina ripped a forehand winner holding for 4-1.
The second seed spit up three errors in a row as Rybakina broke again for 5-1.
On her second set point, Rybakina closed the second set forcing a decider after 68 minutes. Swiatek sabotaged her own cause committing 19 unforced errors in the second set and 17 errors in the third set.
In the final set, Rybaking was calling the shots as a scratchy Swiatek couldn’t stay in step. It was as if Swiatek did not trust her ability to stay in extended rallies and tried to squeeze shots closer to the lines.
The result was pain and punishment.
A sliding Swiatek netted a stretched forehand as Rybakina broke to start the decider.
Two games later, Rybakina blasted a backhand return through the middle drawing a deep backhand reply breaking again for a 3-0.
Even on the rare occasion when she was forced to defend, Rybakina turned defense to offense ripping a forehand crosscourt winner holding at 15 for 4-0.
By then, the former Wimbledon champion basically beat the desire out of Swiatek. Rybakina reeled off 12 of the final 15 points.
On match point, Swiatek did not even more as Rybakina smashed an ace down the T snapping her four-match losing streak to the Pole in one hour, 37 minutes.
“I’ve been playing really well the last few weeks,” said Rybakina, who surpassed Indian Wells champion Mirra Andreeva to qualify. “First of all I was improving in each match and results were following.
“Even here I’m trying to focus on little details. I’m really excited for my next match and hopefully I can bring the same intensity and same game.”
