Elena Rybakina showcased her incredible talent at the Ningbo Open, capturing the singles crown on Sunday by defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova with a score of 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. This victory, which took just under two hours, marks the 10th title of Rybakina’s professional career and her second trophy of the season at the prestigious WTA 500 level. With this win, she is solidifying her chances of qualifying for the year-end WTA Finals.
Rybakina’s Remarkable Comeback
In the opening set, Alexandrova struck first by breaking Rybakina early and managing to control the pace of the match. However, Rybakina quickly turned the tide, winning nine consecutive games to dominate the second set and establish a commanding 3-0 lead in the deciding set. The Kazakh player ultimately sealed her comeback with a late break that overturned a frustrating season record, where she had struggled after losing the first set.
Rybakina’s powerful serve played a crucial role in her comeback. She successfully landed 61% of her first serves, winning 88% of the points on those serves, including a flawless performance in the second set. Throughout the match, she delivered 11 aces and faced only three break points, saving two of them. A pivotal moment came when Rybakina held serve at 4-2 in the third set, recovering from 0-30 to fend off the final break point she would encounter.
This impressive result has propelled Rybakina back to world No. 7, overtaking Mirra Andreeva and Madison Keys in the rankings. She is now set to compete in Tokyo, where reaching at least the semifinals would secure her a direct spot in the WTA Finals in Riyadh. If not, she will enter the tournament as the first alternate.
The Ningbo title adds to Rybakina’s already impressive résumé, which includes the 2022 Wimbledon trophy, a runner-up finish at the 2023 Australian Open, and WTA 1000 victories at Indian Wells and Rome. Her path to the title in Ningbo featured significant wins over top-10 players, including Jasmine Paolini in the semifinals and Alexandrova in the final, marking her 25th and 26th top-10 victories in her career.
For Alexandrova, the defeat represents her third consecutive loss in a WTA 500 final over the past three months. Despite this setback, her consistent performance has secured her position in the top 10, and she will also be competing in Tokyo for another opportunity to win at this level.
In doubles, Liudmila Samsonova and Nicole Melichar-Martinez had a remarkable run to clinch the Ningbo trophy. They faced tough competition, surviving a match tiebreak in the opening round and upsetting No. 3 seeds Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they edged out top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Katerina Siniakova in another match tiebreak, before defeating No. 4 seeds Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani 5-7, 6-4, [10-8] in the final, which lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes. This victory marks their second title together in three finals, following their triumph at a WTA 500 event in Seoul in 2024. With this win, Samsonova has now accumulated three career WTA doubles titles and has consistently claimed at least one doubles title each season for the past three years, adding to her five singles trophies. Meanwhile, Melichar-Martinez’s total rises to an impressive 17 career WTA doubles titles, including two in 2025.