Rybakina: "What has happened this week, I will take it to the next season"

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As important as the image that opens the season is the one that closes it. Elena Rybakina has been the protagonist of the latter, lifting the WTA Finals trophy in Riyadh and confirming that she is back at her sweetest point.

And we are talking about a former Wimbledon champion, although it had been a long time since we last saw Elena Rybakina holding a top-tier title. She had to push herself to the limit in the past weeks to secure her spot in these WTA Finals, entering as the underdog. In the end, she found no rival throughout the event, winning all her matches and staging some remarkable comebacks along the way. Yesterday, facing Aryna Sabalenka posed the toughest challenge, one where she excelled to the surprise of many.

"I did not have high expectations, so I did not feel that pressure," Elena states in an interview with WTA about her approach to this Masters tournament. "There are many challenges when you go from tournament to tournament, even if the trips are not very long, but you need to adjust to the new conditions each week, the new balls, learn to control all this. I faced my first match after just two training sessions, it was not easy, but we focused everything on my service advantage. We always tried to go for short exchanges, being very aggressive throughout the tournament. I had to seize every opportunity as soon as possible, as the best players do not usually offer many," summarizes the woman who hit 15 aces in the semifinals and another 13 in the final.

No woman would have wanted to face Sabalenka in a final of this magnitude, that's why Rybakina is different from the rest. She stands out not only for her personality but also for her style of play. The Kazakh not only defeated the world number one but did so by excelling where the Belarusian is strongest, in tiebreaks.

"I remember the moment the tiebreak started, I thought back to the tiebreak we played in Berlin this summer, where there were also many match points. Here, I preferred to take a different approach, point by point, without thinking of anything else until the match point arrived. Then I realized that I had won, but I was extremely focused. Looking back, I realize how crucial the initial points were," reflects Elena, demonstrating once again that she keeps her composure when facing the best, which is why we have always placed her in that top tier of leaders.

Elena Rybakina thinking ahead to 2026

We waited for her for a long time, but there was always an obstacle that prevented her from unleashing her full potential. Sometimes she lacked confidence, other times injuries plagued her, and surely the turmoil and lack of structure within her team didn't help in building stable connections. With Stefano Vukov back, the man who guided her to the elite years ago, it seems that calmness has returned to her circle. Certainly, tranquility has returned, and fortunately, so have the results. That's why Rybakina is once again as dangerous as ever, which is why the worst news for her is when the season ends.

"Everything that happened this week I will carry it over to the next season, it will give me motivation to work even harder, as we have been doing in the recent blocks of tournaments," says the woman who finishes the season as World No. 5. "Physically, even when I was not at my best, I think we did a great job. I have experienced what it feels like to win a Grand Slam, also what it means to lose one, so each match brings us a different experience. This time it went my way, everything clicked, so I will try to hold onto all the positive aspects of this tournament for my future commitments," she concludes.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rybakina: “Lo que ha pasado esta semana me lo llevo a la próxima temporada”