On Sunday, February 11, the final match of the WTA-500 tournament took place in Abu Dhabi (UAE). Participants in the title match were Russia’s No. 1 racket Daria Kasatkina, seeded seventh, and Wimbledon 2022 champion Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, No. 1).
In the middle of the final, both Kasatkina and Rybakina played difficult matches. Daria’s match with Beatrice Haddad-Maya lasted more than three hours, and the Russian squeezed the Brazilian in the third set tiebreaker 6:3, 4:6, 7:6 (7:2). Elena also had difficulties in the fight with Lyudmila Samsonova, whom she had never beaten before: 6: 0, 4: 6, 6: 2.
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Kasatkina will fight for the Abu Dhabi title! And she will play with Rybakina: she ruined the Russian final.
For both tennis players, this final was the second of the season. And if Rybakina won the title in Brisbane, beating Aryna Sabalenko in the decisive match, Kasatkina in Adelaide fell short of the main trophy, losing to Elena Ostapenko. As for the general statistics of the career finals at the WTA level, the participants in the debriefing meeting had similar statistics: Daria – 6-8, Elena – 6-9.
It is also worth noting that the score of personal matches before the current final was the same: 2-2. Kasatkina won at Ostrava 2020 and San Jose 2022, and Rybakina won at Abu Dhabi 2021 and Montreal 2023. The last match ended with a score of 5:7, 7:5, 7:6 (10:8), Daria recovered four match points , missed a match point and the match lasted almost three and a half hours. Then the tennis players finished playing at almost three in the morning local time!
Elena Rybakina in the match with Daria Kasatkina at the Montreal tournament in 2023
Photo: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
What they said before the final
Rybakina told how she was going to act in the match against Kasatkina. “In the final you want to win and do everything possible for it. But, despite everything, this week has already been great for me. I’ll try to just enjoy tennis.
We met with Daria several times and each match was difficult and intense. His playing style is very different and it is not easy to get used to. My footwork has to be at a high level. I will try to play aggressively during the final,” TASS quotes.
Russia’s honorable coach Viktor Yanchuk expressed hope that Kasatkina will be able to impose the fight on Rybakina. “Kasatkina has a chance in the final with Rybakina. But it all depends on how Rybakina plays. If he is in good shape, he plays livelier and faster than Dasha. If the fight is close, Kasatkina may have a chance. But everything will be decided by the psychological factor and how the match will develop.
You won’t be able to quickly beat Dasha. It is important that there is a fight where opportunities can appear,” Yanchuk said in an interview with Championship.
Daria Kasatkina at the Abu Dhabi tournament in 2024
Photo: Christopher Pike/Getty Images
1995 Davis Cup finalist Andrei Chesnokov said Rybakina could “destroy” Kasatkina. “I saw how Kasatkina played. She now she is playing very well, she moves very well and yesterday she could have easily won in two sets instead of three. At the same time, Rybakina is much stronger, she is much more powerful and faster than Kasatkina, and thanks to this she can destroy Daria. I think Kasatkina has little chance of winning, but let’s see, in women’s tennis anything can happen,” TASS quotes Chesnokov.
Two-time TBS mixed doubles champion Andrei Olkhovsky also considered Rybakina a favorite. “The favorite of the final is Rybakina. Rybakina has priority on serve. In terms of power, Kasatkina can provide stability: she has good legs and a stable game. Rybakina will take more shots and take more risks. In my opinion, a lot depends on how Rybakina will serve. If there is no effectiveness in the serve, then Kasatkina has a chance,” Olkhovsky said in an interview with Championship.
But the vice president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Alexey Selivanenko, suggested that Kasatkina could also claim victory. “On paper there is only one favorite for the WTA final in Abu Dhabi, but in reality things can be completely different. Kasatkina performed well this week, Rybakina yesterday won a difficult match against Samsonova in three sets. But Kasatkina, with the performance she showed last week, can claim victory. [Рыбакина] The first seed, by definition, expects success. There should be very good tennis,” said Selivanenko in an interview with the Championship.
Elena Rybakina at the Abu Dhabi tournament in 2024
Photo: Christopher Pike/Getty Images
Rybakina took the first game to zero, largely thanks to her serve, her main weapon. Kasatkina also started her game 40-0, but suddenly she committed two double faults, began to make inaccuracies in the exchanges, and his opponent soon took advantage of this, making an early break-2-0 in favor of the representative. from Kazakhstan. In the third game, Elena returned the favor to Daria, also allowing two doubles, including the third break point. But the Russians failed to equalize the score. In the fourth game she again scored two doubles, including a break point, and the score was 3:1 in favor of Rybakina.
Elena did not waste this advantage. In many ways, Daria herself helped her, but she did not succeed. Maybe it was the fatigue after the difficult semi-final against Haddad-Maya. Be that as it may, in the next three games Kasatkina could only win two points and gave up her serve to love, allowing another double. And the match, which lasted only 25 minutes, ended with a score of 6-1 in favor of Rybakina. Daria had terrible statistics in terms of winners/unforced errors: 2/16 (Elena had an acceptable 6/7).
At the start of the second set, Kasatkina escaped two break points and it was the first time in this match that the Russian took serve. But then Rybakina took her game, and then someone else’s, showing excellent attacking tennis at the reception. And it is not known how events would have developed, but Daria, who finally began to attack, managed to regain the break in the fourth game and the result was zero: 2:2!
After this, the tennis players again exchanged breaks for 3:3. At the same time, a double error was committed again on Kasatkina’s serve, which at that time was already the seventh in a row. But at the reception, Daria again acted actively and the risk paid off. Then the rivals won the game on serve (4:4), and in the ninth game Rybakina faced break points, took advantage of the second and at 5:4 went out to serve to win the title. When the score was 30:30, it suddenly started to rain on the field and the game had to be interrupted. But the pause was short-lived, no more than 10 minutes. Rybakina took the next two points and with them the title: 6:1, 6:4 in 1 hour and 11 minutes.
Thus, Kasatkina, who has not won a title since August 2022, lost her fourth consecutive final, after Adelaide 2023, Eastbourne 2023 and Adelaide 2024. Despite this, she will rise one place in the WTA ranking and become the number one racket 13 in the world. Rybakina won her second title of the season and the seventh of her career. Elena will also move up one place and become fourth in the world rankings.
And today, February 11, the WTA-1000 category tournament began in Doha (Qatar), in which all the strongest women participate, except for Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Karolina Muchova. Nine Russians entered the main draw and already in the first round two Russian derbies were formed at once.
“The thousandth” in Doha will end on February 17. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
