Previous to the beginning of the WTA Finals on Saturday, 25-year-old Rybakina had not performed on tour for 2 months due to a mix of sickness and harm, and her opening match in opposition to Paolini led to a straight-set defeat.
The previous Wimbledon champion had appeared fatigued throughout that match however began stronger in opposition to Zheng, placing stress on the serve early on with the Chinese language seventh seed pressured to save lots of two break factors early within the opening set.
Momentum then swung Zheng’s approach as she sealed a primary break of serve on the best way to a 4-1 lead, however as her unforced error rely began to creep upwards, Rybakina was in a position to combat again into the set by profitable three successive video games.
But within the deciding tie-break, Rybakina nudged a return lengthy to wrap up the opener for Zheng on her second set level.
Little might separate the pair initially of the second set, however Rybakina discovered a much-needed increased gear after going 3-2 and a break down.
After getting the instant break again, she saved two additional break factors from 15-40 down, reeling off three aces within the recreation earlier than touchdown a backhand on the Zheng baseline.
That was within the second of 4 successive recreation wins to seal the second set, however Rybakina got here unstuck once more within the decider.
As she grew weary, opponent Zheng was in a position to capitalise with a break for 3-1 from which she by no means appeared again, wrapping up her maiden WTA Finals win on her first match level.
