Slovak WTA comeback stalled by gritty French ace

Despite being defeated by Julia Goerges in the Azalea Group, World #22 Magdalena Rybarikova went on to upset #10 Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (5) on Nov 1 at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.

It was the second time for the top-seeded French player to face Slovakian tennis veteran Rybarikova, a former World #1 who'd reached the semi-finals of this year's Wimbledon Championships.

The play was harder than expected in the last 168 minutes with Mladenovic exerting energy, hoping to break a string of 10 consecutive defeats, nine of which ended in straight sets.

The 10th-seeded Rybarikova also pulled out all the stops to make match points when needed. The day started with her winning the first set.

Kristina Mladenovic

Mladenovic, 24, wanted to end the slump and recapture the honor gained at the beginning in the season. She took a 2-0 lead in the second set by overcoming two break points and expanded the advantage until the end -- a win with five points ahead of her opponent. Rybarikova asked for a Medical Time Out because of a leg injury during the match.

After a short rest, Rybarikova promptly regained competitiveness with the third-set battle turning white-hot. She won match point at 6-3 with a strong attack in the tiebreak and stayed ahead to win the game.

Magdalena Rybarikova

Mladenovic, however, didn't show disappointment when interviewed. "For sure it's the best match I have played in a while. You know, there is a lot of things to take out from this match, lots of positives," she said. The young player still has a room for improvement though.

Meanwhile, 9th-seeded Ashleigh Barty defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-1 in the Rose Group, while Anastasija Sevastova beat  US Open champion Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-3 in the Camillea.

The finale of a WTA tour features leading players who didn't qualify for the Finals in Singapore last week. The chosen 12 are divided into four groups of three, with the winner of each group advancing to the semifinals, competing for a $2,281,000 season-ending prize pot.