WTA Saturday Roundup: Maya Joint Wins Maiden Singles Title, Elena Rybakina Wins 9th

Maya Joint

It was a busy Saturday on the WTA Tour as the Rabat and Strasbourg finals were played to give players plenty of time to get to Paris for French Open beginning tomorrow.

Australian Maya Joint won her maiden singles WTA title in Rabat, one day after winning the doubles title with Oksana Kalashnikova.

The 19-year-old Aussie is the first Australian woman to win a WTA title since Ashleigh Barty in 2022.  She is a name to watch as her ranking rises.  Joint is currently 78th in singles and 151st in doubles.

She was enrolled at the University of Texas for the Fall 2024 semester but opted to turn professional and forego college tennis.

Elena Rybakina Wins Strasbourg

2022 Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina won her ninth career WTA title at Strasbourg.  She defeated Liudmila Samsonova in three sets.  This is Rybakina’s first title since Stuttgart in 2024.

Rybakina looked healthy, strong, and showed us a drop shot that we are not used to seeing.  Her coaching changes have been a plot line for her this season with longtime coach Stefano Vukov serving his WTA suspension.

Vulkov is still operating in some capacity on Rybakina’s team as she thanked him in her victory speech. She hugged current coach Davide Sanguinetti after the match.

Fans have strong opinions about Rybakina’s allegiance to Vukov.  It is not our business. Hopefully this win bodes well for her to make a deep run at Roland Garros.

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