"The ultimate showdown of the 'Double B Battle' will take place at midnight tomorrow; who will claim the WTA year-end championship?"

On November 7 local time, the 2025 Riyadh WTA Year-End Finals wrapped up the singles and doubles semifinals, as Sabalenka and Rybakina each overcame their rivals to face off in the final, both striving for their inaugural year-end championship.

Rybakina

Photo: Visual China

In the first singles semifinal, the 6th seed Rybakina came from behind to defeat the 5th seed Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, extending her winning streak to ten matches and achieving her sixth consecutive victory against a top 10 player. This marks her first appearance in the final after qualifying for the year-end finals for three straight years. Rybakina served an impressive 15 aces in the match, pushing her season total over 500 (503), becoming the first player since Karolina Pliskova in 2016 to reach this milestone in a single season.

Rybakina spoke about her serve: "Serving is my greatest weapon, and tonight my serve was on point. Although Pegula played well and pressured me in tough moments, my serve came through exactly when I needed it most." With this win, Rybakina has evened her head-to-head record against Pegula at 3-3.

Rybakina secured her last spot in the finals by winning the Ningbo title and reaching the Tokyo semifinals during the Asian swing this year. "Honestly, I was very tired when I arrived here, so I didn’t have many expectations. I’m happy with my performance in Asia, but also exhausted. I thought, this is the last week, so I’ll give it my all and see what happens," she said. "I didn’t expect to go this far, and I’m glad I played well in these tough matches. I kept pushing myself, and the results have been good."

Sabalenka

Photo: Visual China

The second singles semifinal featured a high-level offensive battle, where top seed Sabalenka defeated 4th seed Anisimova 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, reaching the final of this event again after three years. She is the first player since Andrea Petkovic in 2016 to reach three Grand Slam finals and the year-end final in a single season.

After the match, Sabalenka said, "Honestly, if I had lost this match, I wouldn’t have minded because we played an incredible match and both deserved to win. It was a very high-quality battle, and I’m happy to have come out on top." She also praised her opponent Anisimova’s breakthrough season: "I told Amanda she should be proud of this season. She played at a fantastic level all year, and this is just the beginning. I know she might be disappointed now, but she will definitely achieve more in the future."

Looking ahead to the final, this will be the 14th meeting between Sabalenka and Rybakina. The Belarusian leads their head-to-head 8-5 and won their most recent encounter at this year’s Wuhan Open. Sabalenka commented, "It will be another aggressive battle. I think today’s match was great preparation for facing Rybakina. I’m looking forward to giving my all in the last match of the season. Tomorrow, I will fight for every point."

Both Sabalenka and Rybakina went undefeated in their group stage matches, meaning whoever lifts the trophy will earn a hefty prize of $5,235,000 and 1500 ranking points. The women’s singles final will start at midnight tomorrow.

The doubles final matchup is set: 7th seeds Babos/Stefani defeated 6th seeds Hsieh/Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6(5) and will face 4th seeds Kudermetova/Mertens, who saved a match point to overturn 2nd seeds Siniakova/Townsend 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-6, reuniting after three years to compete for the title.

Complete schedule for November 8