Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis: World No. 1 Elena Rybakina defeated Kazakhstani compatriot Yulia Putintseva in the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis second round, 6-2, 6-3, to secure the Year-End No.1 spot for the first time in her career.
Rybakina produced a strong outing in Tokyo to beat Putintseva in the 70-minute contest, where she did not lose her serve and had to save the only break point in the final game of the match.
She won 75% of her first-serve points and 57% of her second-serve ones. The Kazakh also nailed six aces and finished the game with an ace only. "It's always difficult matches against Yulia," Rybakina said in her on-court interview. "I was ready for longer rallies. She plays a lot of drop shots and changing the rhythm, so I was happy I stayed focused, stayed aggressive, and a lot of things worked for me today.
