Iga Swiatek Falls Apart Against Elena Rybakina in WTA Finals

The second-ranked Iga Swiatek has been one of the most dominant players on the WTA Tour throughout the second half of the 2025 season. Swiatek has served up more breadsticks and bagels than any other player.

That makes today's collapse against Elena Ryabkina all the more unexpected. Make no mistake, Ryabkina has been red hot as of late, and few players can compete with her when she serves at such a high level.

However, no tennis fan was expecting what happened during their second match of the group stage of the WTA Finals. Ryabkina defeated Swiatek in three sets: 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Swiatek looked like herself in the first set, before hitting 36 unforced errors across the second and third sets. Swiatek tallied two aces and two double faults. She broke Ryabkina in 1/3 opportunities.

Meanwhile, Rybakina tallied four aces and three double faults. She broke Swiatek in 5/7 chances. Rybakina won the last nine games and 11 of the last 12 games. She lost just 12 points in the third set as she hit 15 winners to seven unforced errors.

"She brings so much intensity to the court," Rybakina said in her post-match interview. "I feel like she started the match really well, and I was a little bit slow, so on serve straight away, she broke me. It was difficult to be down, but in the second set, I pushed myself.

"My serve improved, and I'm really happy that I stepped in and played better each point. I'm very happy with my performance."

Rybakina has solidified her spot in the semi-finals after Amanda Anisimova defeated Madison Keys. Anisimova (1-1) and Swiatek (1-1) will play on Wednesday for the No. 2 spot.

Luckily for Swiatek, she is not yet eliminated. Since she defeated Keys in straight sets and won a set against Rybakina, Swiatek is still in with a strong chance of qualifying if she defeats Anisimova in her final match.

Swiatek could qualify even if she loses her last match, as she, Anisimova, and Keys could all finish with one win and two losses. From there, a three-way tie would be decided by total sets won and total games won.

Swiatek falls to 62-16 on the season, while Rybakina improves to 54-20 on the year. Moreover, she has won 10 of her last 11 matches, with the lone loss coming against the top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan Open quarterfinal.

"I've been playing really well the past few weeks," Rybakina said. "I was improving in each match, and the results were following after. Even here, I'm trying to focus on the little details, and it's a great opportunity to play against the top players.

"I'm really excited for my next match, and hopefully I can bring the same intensity and the same game."

The 2025 WTA Finals runs through November 8. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

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