Elena Rybakina beats Daria Kasatkina in Abu Dhabi for second title of season, seventh of career

Elena Rybakina has been boom or bust this season—either losing her second match at a tournament or winning the whole thing.

This week in Abu Dhabi was an example of the latter, though her run to the title was hardly straightforward. She lost the first set she played to Danielle Collins, and she overcame Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals for the first time in five tries.

In overcoming those obstacles, Rybakina showed she was near her dangerous best, which was evident in Sunday's final against Daria Kasatkina. The seventh-seeded Russian escaped Beatriz Haddad Maia in the semis via third-set tiebreak, but was no match for Rybakina today, falling 6-1, 6-4.

"Hope to play many more finals against each other," Kasatkina said after the match, on the court. "Let's see the outcome in the next one."

In breaking down this match, the foremost topic is what happened to Kastakina's first serve. Only 18 of her 38 first-serve points resulted in a positive outcome, while Rybakina converted 70.3% of points with her first strike. Kasatkina was fighting a battle from the onset, and it too much to overcome, despite her acumen from the baseline.

This was the third consective match Rybakina won the first set by 6-1 or 6-0, but unlike her semi with Samsonova, she didn't let her opponent wrestle away control. While Kasatkina scored two service breaks in the second set, her unreliable delivery was a reliable target for Rybakina. She double faulted four times in the second set (and nine times overall), affording Rybakina far too many chances to inflict damage.

Kasatkina's controlled aggression from baseline allowed her to level the second set at 3-all, but Rybakina won three of the final four games to prevail—and nose ahead in their head-to-head, 3-2.

The title is Rybakina's second of 2024 (she also won in Brisbane), seventh of her career and fourth on hard courts. She'll move past Jessica Pegula to No. 4 in the WTA rankings tomorrow.

Both finalists will be back in action this week at the 1000 level, Doha.

"Hopefully we both recover," Rybakina said, "and maybe play final there."