Siniakova outlasts Rybakina in marathon to take Portoroz title

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, ranked 25th in the world and the last remaining seed in this hard court tournament, raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set but needed a tiebreak after Czech Siniakova fought back.

Katerina Siniakova in action. (FILE) | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Katerina Siniakova battled back after losing the first set to beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the WTA final in Portoroz, Slovenia.

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, ranked 25th in the world and the last remaining seed in this hard court tournament, raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set but needed a tiebreak after Czech Siniakova fought back.

Rybakina was a break up at 4-3 in the second set, but Siniakova again fought back and this time took the tiebreak with her third set point.

Siniakova, who had played both her quarter-final and semi-final on Saturday, broke first in the third set, but Rybakina broke back to 4-4. Siniakova immediately broke again and served out for the victory.

It was a first singles title since Bastad in 2017 for the 26-year-old who has become a doubles specialist.

With Barbora Krejcikova, Siniakova has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open this year.