Winner of Rybakina, Zheng stays alive in the WTA Finals

Qinwen Zheng won the first match of her career at the WTA Masters, beating Elena Rybakina in three sets (7-6, 3-6, 6-1).

The two players met this afternoon after losing their first group match. After a tight first set in which the Chinese finally prevailed in a tie-break, Rybakina found more consistency in her game to take the second set.

But Zheng was far more aggressive in the final set, taking her opponent's serve on two occasions.

This victory by the world No.7 virtually eliminates Rybakina from the competition, who will have to hope for a Sabalenka defeat later in the day to keep her qualification hopes alive.