Tracy Austin has outlined her main concern for Elena Rybakina, as she prepares to face Aryna Sabalenka for the WTA Finals trophy.
The winner of this match is guaranteed a mouth-watering prize pot of over $5m, given both remain unbeaten, having stormed through their respective groups to meet once again.
Whilst the Belarusian has won their most recent meeting in Wuhan, it remains impossible to call, with Elena Rybakina having enjoyed five victories over her upcoming opponent throughout their respective careers.
However, there could be one worrying key point of interest for the Kazakhstani that might turn the tide in Aryna Sabalenka’s favour.
Tracy Austin delivers her thoughts on Elena Rybakina’s fitness ahead of the WTA Finals vs Aryna Sabalenka
Chatting with Tennis Channel, the American pundit and tennis Hall of Famer claimed: “Well, first of all, Sabalenka’s already at 12 plus change, so she wins, she’s up to 17 for the year. I just had to get my head wrapped around that for one year.”
Moving on from the mouth-watering prize money on offer, Austin did add: “I’m a little concerned about Rybakina’s shoulder. We saw a couple of times during the match. Early stage in the second, that was where she actually looked over to her team and kind of shook her head, you know, rubbing her shoulder, but she served bigger after that, I think, realising that she’s got a couple of matches.
“Now she’s only got one match, so she’s gonna go big. Sabalenka beat her in her last loss. That was in Wuhan in straight sets.
“Sabalenka has the ability to handle the pressure and the pace of Rybakina, and yet still get the angle going, get some loft on those balls so that every ball is right at waist level from Rybakina.
“I mean, it’s a tough call. It really is. But I think Rybakina, she’s going to want quicker points.
“She’s gonna be right on that baseline and kind of maybe sometimes go behind Sabalenka as well, get her moving.”
Sabalenka revealed her ‘main priority’ in tennis after beating Coco Gauff earlier this week, insisting her participation was not financially motivated.
Aryna Sabalenka’s head-to-head record vs Elena Rybakina
Sabalenka and Rybakina’s rivalry has been one of the more competitive ones at the apex of the women’s sport, having shared 13 enthralling encounters, eight of which the former came out on top.
However, as noted earlier, Rybakina has previous form at the WTA Finals and could lean on that hugely useful experience to topple the world number one.
Their recent matches offer little distinction between the duo too, having shared the results with three wins apiece.
Perhaps more importantly, it is Rybakina who often seems the far more likely candidate to blow the opposition away, conceding just three games during her win in Brisbane, whilst also blowing the Belarusian away in Cincinnati earlier this year too.
Regardless, this promises to be a massively enticing affair between two of women’s tennis’ most in-form players.
