The number one in the world rankings, the Polish Iga Swiatekand the Kazakh Elena Rybakinathird seed, will star this Saturday in the fantastic final of WTA 1,000 on hard court in Doha (Qatar).
Swiatek is making the final for the third time in a row, after being sidelined with a lower back injury in the Czech Karolina Pliskovawhich led him directly into the final contention for the crown of Qatar.
Kazakh Elena Rybakina (no. 4 WTA), on the other hand, secured her place in the final by defeating the Russian comfortably 6-2, 6-4. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32), in just an hour and a half.
This marked Rybakina’s first victory against the tennis player from Moscow, who had already beaten her once (Roland Garros quarterfinals, in 2021).
The superiority of the Kazakh on the fast court is noticeable, especially in serving: eight break points were saved, out of nine (89%), while Pavlyuchenkova saved two out of six (33%).
Two losses of serve in the Soviet first set – in the fifth and seventh games – led to Rybakina stringing together four points in a row and sealing her lead.
Already in the second set, Pavlyuchenkova looked unable to turn things around, making the same mistake again in the first and fifth games, respectively. In the eighth, the Kazakh gave the Russian a chance to chain four points, but ended up closing the match in his favor 6-4.
Source: La Verdad
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