Elena Rybakina v Ekaterina Alexandrova result - WTA Finals sees Rybakina beat alternate Alexandrova in straight sets in Riyadh

Rybakina has been a force to be reckoned with in Riyadh, coming through the round-robin stage of the WTA Finals with three wins from three.

Having started with a straight sets demolition of Amanda Anisimova, Rybakina was forced to work harder to beat world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.

Today, her opponent changed last minute but even that could not de-rail her progress, Rybakina beating Alexandrova 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 13 minutes.

Alexandrova came in as second alternate, after Mirra Andreeva opted not to sign in following Madison Keys' withdrawal.

Alexandrova gave a good account of herself from word go, comfortably holding her first four games and troubling Rybakina on her serve. But one loose game in the first set was all it took for Rybakina to pounce and take the set 6-4, despite some shoulder tape indicating a possible injury that could be worrying moving forward.

Rybakina was up two breaks in the second set, but lost her service game for the first time in the match when serving for it, but she made no such mistakes the second time around, her first serve doing the damage when it mattered.

She will feature in Thursday's semi-finals, but does not yet know the identity of her opponent - that will be revealed when the other group concludes tomorrow.

"It was tough, especially in the second set. I was up, and lost a bit my concentration. It is difficult against an opponent with such a big serve," Rybakina said in her on-court interview.

"Every match I play I want to win, and definitely each win gives you confidence.

"So, I'm happy that each match has been great and I'm looking forward to the semi-final."

She got broken serving for the match last time around, can Rybakina make it second time lucky?

Once again, it is not a good start, 0-15 as Alexandrova finds a huge return winner.

But a big serve yields a short return and Rybakina clubs away the winner.

A double fault gets the game to 30-30, as Rybakina again looks a tiny touch tight out there.

Oh. Another double fault. 30-40. What is going on here?

A big, big first serve then gets Rybakina back to deuce - that is more like it as she again massages that shoulder.

Match point sees.... Alexandra on the run, pull off a sublime cross-court winner. What a shot!

But then comes another ace, another match point and she takes the match!

It is a clean sweep in the group stages for Rybakina, who rolls out a 6-4 6-4 winner.

Rybakina retaliates immediately with a huge winner as Alexandrova serves to keep the match alive.

But then Alexandrova finds some accuracy on serve again to get to 30-15, make that 40-15 when another serve out wide does the business.

Rybakina's final return flies long, and it remains at just the one break of serve in this second set.

Well, her first match did not get to the one-hour mark. And while this one looked set to last longer, suddenly, as the clock hits 1:00 Rybakina is serving for the match.

Alexandrova is not giving up though, she gets the opening point on her opponent's serve.

Ohhh - a big forehand mishit from Rybakina flies long. 0-30.

Fortunately for Rybakina's sake, she can rely on her serve - two big serves fly past Alexandrova and it is 30-30.

But then comes another error and suddenly, from serving for the match, Rybakina is broken. She does not look too impressed with herself.

Uh oh. Rybakina absolutely has her range here on return. And as such, she is taking time away from Alexandrova, who is getting stuck on the back foot.

0-30 becomes 15-30 at least, as the pressure tells and the first serve misses.

The second serve hits the tape and bounces wide, and it is 15-40.

Alexandrova saves the first break but she cannot do anything on the second as another Rybakina winner sails past.

Two breaks, and Rybakina will serve for the match.

Big, big serves. Alexandrova can barely get a return in play.

And Rybakina holds to love to maintain that one break advantage in the second set.

She looks unstoppable here.

That was the Alexandrova that started the match.

Big serves, big hitting and clean winners.

She holds to love to stay in touch, but she does need to find a way to break Rybakina's serve - no easy feat at the best of times.

Rybakina beat Anisimova in her first round robin match very quickly, and she won't be quite so quick today but she is now motoring.

A hold to 15, and she leads 3-1 in the second set after 50 minutes.

But she did just feel her shoulder out...

Uh oh. Alexandrova is definitely still carrying some vibes from that first set here.

She goes behind 15-40 after a couple of loose shots, and Rybakina capitalises.

She gets the break, and she did not have to work too hard for that one either.

A set and a break to the good for the world No. 6 out there.

Too good from Rybakina, who makes no response to a huge forehand cross-court winner that her opponent doesn't even try to get a racquet on.

Alexandrova laughs at how good that shot was though.

Rybakina holds to 15, and her serve looks unplayable this afternoon.

Alexandrova looks to have a little hangover from the disappointment of the first set. She misses a few first serves, and the game gets to 40-30.

Second serve, and she finds a big backhand to force the error from her opponent.

Alexandrova holds to start the second set.

That was a very decent set there. Rybakina served two aces to Alexandrova's six.

Rybakina stood at 10 winners to six errors, her opponent was at 13 winners and 10 errors.

But the crucial stat was break points won. 1/1 for Rybakina, 0-3 for Alexandrova.

With just over half an hour gone, Rybakina finds her groove and her best on serve.

Three big serves and a return error gets her to 40-0, and she does indeed take the first set 6-4.

Alexandrova might wonder what happened there. Just one loose service game, one double fault and suddenly the set is gone.

Ah. A first double fault, a little bit of scoreboard pressure and suddenly Rybakina is 15-40 on her opponent's serve.

Alexandrova misses her first serve, the rally ensues and then the world No. 10 goes for far too big a shot and misses.

Rybakina finally gets the breakthrough, that looked unlikely at stages.

A better service game this from Rybakina. After facing two break points in her last service game, she gets to 40-0 with her opponent barely getting a racquet on the ball.

An ace closes out the game, and we remain on serve.

The players sit down still on serve after a more straightforward hold for Alexandrova.

She leads the head-to-head between these two 3-2, although two of those wins came all the way back in 2020.

Alexandrova's last win over the former Wimbledon champion was last year in Adelaide, when she won 6-3 6-3.

Serve is dominating out here.

But when Rybakina misses her first serve, Alexandrova pounces. A couple of big clean winners, and we are at deuce.

Alexandrova gets another chance here to break... She gets a look at a second serve... And we get one of the longest rallies of the match. But after some slugging from the back of the court, Rybakina comes in to net and her opponent cannot make the pass.

Back at deuce, Rybakina finds another monstrously big first serve, and takes the game.

Alexandrova is a few inches shorter than Rybakina, but she has a big serve and it is a good weapon.

She holds to 30 courtesy of an ace, and this match moves on at speed.

Alexandrova was not the first alternate here, that was Mirra Andreeva who did not feel fit enough to play singles today.

This service game goes much more to plan for Rybakina.

She finds more first serves, that forces Alexandrova further back behind the baseline, limiting her potency on return.

As such, Rybakina holds to love.