WTA Finals 2025: Amanda Anisimova fights back to beat Madison Keys; electric Elena Rybakina stuns Iga Swiatek

Amanda Anisimova is up and running at the 2025 WTA Finals with a vital victory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The USA world No. 4 earned her first triumph at the year-end tennis finals on Monday (3 November), recovering from a set down to beat fellow American Madison Keys 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour, 43 minutes.

Anisimova said on-court after her victory, “It’s been a difficult few matches and Madi was playing well; it was a real battle out there. I’m happy with how I managed to turn the match around and turn that frown upside down.”

In the earlier match in the Serena Williams Group, Elena Rybakina made it two wins from two with a statement performance against Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek.

Rybakina came from behind to defeat Świątek 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in one hour and 37 minutes, marking Rybakina’s first head-to-head win of the season and an eighth victory in her last nine WTA matches – the only exception coming from a walkover in Tokyo.

The combination of results means that World No. 6 Rybakina is the first player to qualify for the semi-finals. The honour of joining her in the final four will be a shootout between Anisimova and world No. 2 Świątek, who face off on Wednesday (5 November).

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An American affair at the 2025 WTA Finals, featuring USA's Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, and more

2025 WTA Finals – Anisimova answers first set worries to eliminate Keys

A maiden meeting between the USA stars would be crucial group stage clash, both women chasing a first victory of the finals to keep their campaign alive.

Anisimova experienced déjà vu from her defeat to Rybakina two days earlier, opening the match on serve only to be broken. Little did she need to worry as the serving struggles were on both sides of the net, with neither player holding serve in the opening four games.

With nerves settled and the score even, Keys converted a third break point opportunity out of three to serve for the set. It was the Grand Slam champion’s consistency, winning 73 per cent of first serve points, that guided her to a first set won of the week.

Another break-to-hold for Keys allowed the 30-year-old to maintain her control of affairs, while Anisimova let out her frustration on court. But after falling behind 1-3, everything clicked for the US Open finalist. Six winners, five consecutive games and a massive turnaround to force a decider at the King Saud University Indoor Arena.

It was now a question of whether Keys could quell the comeback, yet two breaks in three service games left the world No. 7 in a precarious position. On the other hand, Anisimova was dominant on her serve and cut out unforced errors from her game.

The match was in Anisimova’s hands, Keys relying on her defence to keep her hopes of victory alive. On the 24-year-old’s second match point, Anisimova’s fearsome serve could not be returned, as she earned a hard-fought win on the indoor hard courts.

WTA Finals 2025 – Rybakina routs Świątek in high-class affair in Riyadh

Following four consecutive defeats at the hands of Świątek, Rybakina came into their Riyadh meeting in excellent form and showed what she can do. Even a slow first set could not derail the player from Kazakhstan, who only dropped one game out of 13.

“It’s always very tough to play Iga; she brings so much intensity on court, and she started the match really well,” Rybakina said after her win. “Mentally, I’m very happy that I stayed focused. Even though I lost the first set, I needed to stay mentally focused.”

After salvaging a break point from the start, Świątek kept her cool and converted a break of her own for an early lead. Her brutal forehand was unstoppable at its peak, though Rybakina was demonstrating her in-match intelligence on the longer rallies.

Świątek showed no weakness on serve, capping off a set with a 90 per cent rate of points won on first serve with a brutal ace. The Polish star was pushing Rybakina onto the back foot, with only six unforced errors compared to her opponent’s 17 in the first set.

Rybakina was keeping up despite dropping the first set, and after resetting at the set changeover, barely put a foot wrong going forward. This time, the sixth seed’s serve proved impenetrable, ending the day with five aces.

In regard to her rate of first serve points won, the 26-year-old went from 68.8 per cent in the first set to 81.7 per cent in the rest of the match. Świątek could not find a response of her own, and with 17 unforced errors to three winners in the final set, Rybakina kept delivering aces en route to a stunning triumph in Saudi Arabia.

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