Elena Rybakina is finishing her season with a wet sail.
After off-court challenges coincided with the former world No.3 slipping as low as 13th in July, Rybakina is regaining form.
The 26-year-old was ranked world No.10 after her Wuhan quarterfinals loss to Aryna Sabalenka last month, putting just outside of the WTA Finals qualification contention.
Yet a tournament title in Ningbo and semifinal in Tokyo boosted her into the eighth and final place, and she’s now on a nine-match winning streak and two wins away from winning her maiden WTA Finals trophy.
Now ranked sixth, she’s also sending a warning sign to the rest of the WTA Tour, and Tennis Australia Head of Game Analysis, Simon Rea, believes she is returning to her best.
“Rybakina has not been at the absolute top of her game [in 2025], but I think the signs are that she’s certainly trending back in that direction,” he said on this week’s episode of The Tennis.
“Rybakina’s starting to find her best tennis, and her best tennis when she finds it is as good as there is.”
Rybakina and world No.4 Amanda Anisimova were the players to progress from the Serena Williams group into the semifinals in Riyadh, while Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini were eliminated after the round-robin stage.
When Rybakina and Anisimova played on the opening day of the WTA Finals, Wimbledon 2022 champion Rybakina dropped just four points on her first serve to claim victory 6-3 6-1 in 57 minutes.
Rea discussed how the Kazakhstani successfully battled fire with fire.
“They’re both tall, enormously powerful strikers of the ball. They’ve got weapons everywhere you look,” he said.
“Rybakina’s got the edge on both first and second serve speed. On her first serve, she averages 176km/h; Anisimova’s at 168km/h.
“We know how hard both of these women hit the ball. Anisimova’s net clearance is down compared to Rybakina, so she’s going to hit the ball closer to the net.
“Rybakina’s net clearance is up, and normally, when your net clearance is up, the spin is up. Rybakina has significantly more spin on the forehand side than Anisimova.”
RELATED: Anisimova’s “learning process” to becoming a superstar
Should she continue her unbeaten run, Rybakina could meet world No.1 Sabalenka in the final, another player undefeated so far this week in Riyadh.
That would be a Wuhan quarterfinal rematch – a match-up that also gave us a classic Australian Open 2023 final – and should she win the tournament, Rybakina would move to world No.5, her second year-end top-five finish.
Rybakina continues her WTA Finals campaign against Jessica Pegula in the semifinals on Friday.
Listen to the latest episode of The Tennis with Xavier, Brie, and our panel of experts. New episode released each Thursday, with daily episodes throughout the Australian Open main draw. Subscribe today and take The Tennis with you wherever you go!