Elena Rybakina easily defeated unseeded Canadian Leila Fernandez 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Ningbo Open tennis tournament on Sunday, to retain her title and lift the first trophy as world number one before the start of the women's final tournament next month.
This victory also helped the Kazakh player take a big step towards confirming first place in the world rankings by the end of the year, adding more brilliance to her amazing season in which she won the Australian Open title, before adding the US Open title to reach the top.
First seed Rybakina (27 years old) took the lead in the fifth game thanks to her usual strength, then fired a powerful backhand across the court to take a 4-2 lead before deciding the first set in just 38 minutes.
Fernandez, ranked No. 30 in the world, shined at the beginning of the next set, but Rybakina withstood the pressure and raised her level of performance, forcing her opponent to make a mistake and break her serve to lead 2-1, and then the player who has won three major titles took confident steps towards victory.
Rybakina, who won the Australian Open and US Open titles, raised her tally to 15 titles in the WTA tournaments, and also strengthened her chances of ending the year at the top of the world rankings.
Rybakina, who was born in Moscow and represents Kazakhstan, said during the coronation ceremony: “Thank you all for the wonderful atmosphere. Playing in front of you every day is amazing, and it gives me so much motivation and energy to keep going. “Winning the title here for the second time makes this place very special for me.”
Rybakina took control of the first set thanks to her attacking performance, leading 4-2 after breaking her opponent's serve, before expanding the gap to 5-2, then clinching the set 6-2 without losing a single point in her final game, in less than 40 minutes.
Rybakina, 27, missed the Wuhan Open this month due to a foot injury, but returned to competition strongly.
In the second set, Rybakina broke Fernandez's serve again to take a 2-1 lead, then saved two break points in the fourth game, limiting the Canadian's attempts to return to the match.
Rybakina continued her superiority, and broke her opponent's serve for the last time to lead 5-2, before deciding the match from the first opportunity to win a powerful forehand, confirming her retention of the title.
As for Fernandez, she was aspiring to win her second title within two months, but she collided with a decisive performance from Rybakina, who ended the confrontation with a clear advantage.
Rybakina's latest victory is a timely morale boost, after the setbacks she suffered in Beijing and Wuhan, as her attention now turns to the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo this week, before she begins defending her title in the season finale in Indian Wells, starting on November 8.
Barcelona is looking forward to achieving its tenth successive victory in the Spanish League for the first time in its history, when it hosts its rival, Real Madrid, on Sunday, in a classic confrontation that scores more than three points, amid the Catalan team’s efforts to strengthen its lead, and the royal team’s desire to reduce the gap and spoil its rival’s perfect march.
Barcelona enters the confrontation after losing to Paris Saint-Germain, France, 2-4, in the Champions League, a result that revealed defensive gaps that Real Madrid hopes to exploit. Especially since the victory will give Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho's team the opportunity to reduce the gap with the leaders from 6 points to three, and revive their hopes of competing for the title, according to the British BBC network.
The meeting holds historical importance for Barcelona. The victory will give him the tenth victory in a row since the start of the season in the league, surpassing the previous record recorded by Real Madrid, which achieved 9 consecutive victories at the beginning of the 1968-1969 season.
But Mourinho, who led Real Madrid to achieve two major victories with a score of 4-1 over Seville and Leipzig, stressed that the results of previous matches have little impact in a confrontation of this size, saying that El Clásico remains different from other matches, and that the world stops to watch it.
Real Madrid, which is in third place, is still in the process of adapting to the ideas of its new coach, according to Mourinho, who pointed out that the team had only worked with him for 3 months, including preparation periods and international stops. Despite this, he expressed his confidence in his team’s ability to compete, stressing that “Real Madrid with Mourinho wins titles.”
Attention is turning to the individual confrontations between a group of the most prominent stars in world football, led by Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, who scored 12 goals in 12 matches this season, and the Spanish talent Lamine Yamal, who represents one of Barcelona’s most important offensive weapons. It also highlights the potential confrontation between Mbappe and young defender Pau Cobarsi, in addition to the conflict in midfield between Rodri and Jude Bellingham.
Mourinho rejected the idea of making broad tactical changes specifically to reduce Yamal's danger, stressing his respect for the player's abilities, but he does not intend to abandon his team's style in order to monitor him.
On the other hand, German Hansi Flick, Barcelona coach, confirmed the readiness of his players for the confrontation, but acknowledged the need to address the defensive errors that appeared against Paris Saint-Germain. He said that his team is required to maintain balance and appropriate distances between its players. Especially in light of its reliance on an advanced defense line that may leave spaces for Real Madrid’s attackers.
Barcelona scored 50 goals in its first 12 matches this season, but conceded 15 goals, which puts its defensive toughness to the test against Real Madrid's attack, despite the absence of Brazilian Vinicius Junior from the match due to suspension.
Real Madrid is expected to rely on organized pressure and cut off the ball supply to Barcelona players, then exploit the spaces behind the defense through quick transitions. Set pieces may also represent one of the keys to the confrontation, in light of Flick warning of the danger of Real Madrid in these situations, after he expressed his dissatisfaction with his team’s defensive performance against Paris.
Between Barcelona's desire to write a new chapter in its history, and Real Madrid's efforts to stop its rival's advances, the confrontation appears to be an early test of the ambitions of the two teams in the title race. A Catalan victory will strengthen its position at the top and expand the difference to 9 points, while a Real Madrid victory will bring the competition closer, and give its players a great morale boost at the beginning of the season.
