Hobart: Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina on Saturday won second WTA singles title of her career at the Hobart International as she defeated Zhang Shuai of China in straight sets.
The 20-year-old Kazakh defeated 4th-seeded Zhang 7-6(7), 6-3 after one hour and 33 minutes of play.
Rybakina, ranked 30 in world rankings, has now won 30 of her last 39 matches on tour, a sequence which began with her run to her first-ever WTA singles title at Bucharest last July.
This time last year, Rybakina was ranked World No.171 and had yet to play the main draw of any Grand Slam events. The 20-year-old is now projected to be ranked a career-high World No.26 in Monday’s new rankings, and will be seeded No.29 in her Australian Open main draw debut next week.
"Last year [at the Australian Open] I lost first round in qualies (qualifier), and this year I’m going to be seeded, so that’s great," said Rybakina, who will face American Bernarda Pera in the first round in Melbourne. "I’m just looking forward to this match on Monday."
Rybakina added that her rise up the ranks of the WTA has "been pretty fast. We’ve worked a lot with my coach, and it was not easy: so many tournaments I played last year. Now I’ve had a great pre-season, six weeks, and now I feel much better than last year, physically."
