Elena Rybakina

Born in Moscow, playing for Kazakhstan

Elena Rybakina was born on 17 June 1999 in Moscow, Russia [1]. Her WTA profile lists her country as KAZ [1]. NBC Boston describes her as a Russian athlete representing Kazakhstan since 2018 [6]. Reuters copy published by The Star calls her Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina [3].

Wimbledon 2022

On Saturday 9 July 2022 she upset No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win the Wimbledon singles title [6]. The WTA later called her 2026 Australian Open win her second career Grand Slam title [7].

The 2025 WTA Finals

On Saturday 8 November 2025 she beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) in the final of the WTA Finals [5]. Tennis.com says she went undefeated in Riyadh and earned a record $5.235 million in prize money [5]. She was the No. 6 seed, and she is the fourth player in the past seven years to win the year-end title from that seeding [5].

Tennis.com called her season a rollercoaster that was ending with her flying high [5]. She finished the year on an 11-match winning streak and back in the WTA top five [5].

Ningbo in 2025

Her first Ningbo title came on 19 October 2025. She beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 [10]. Alexandrova took the opening set after converting a break point in the second game [10]. Rybakina answered with nine straight games [10]. She took the second set 6-0, led 3-0 in the third and closed out a 6-2 decider [10].

The title was her 10th career WTA singles title and her second of the 2025 season, both at WTA 500 level [10]. It also put her in contention for the WTA Finals, which she later won [10][5]. "Thank you so much to my team for always pushing me to be better," she said afterwards [10].

Two majors in 2026

Her second major came at the Australian Open on 31 January 2026. After dropping the second set, she stormed back and won six of the final seven games to beat Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 18 minutes [7]. She hit 47 aces during the tournament and earned AUD 4.1 million (USD 2.75 million) [7].

On Saturday 12 September 2026 she beat Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the US Open final [9]. It was her first US Open title and her third Grand Slam singles title [9]. The three majors span July 2022 to September 2026 [6][9]. She was set to replace Sabalenka as world No. 1 when the rankings were next released [9].

Ningbo defence and the year-end No. 1 race

Rybakina entered the 2026 Ningbo Open as world No. 1 and top seed [2]. She beat Diana Shnaider 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinal [2]. Her final opponent, Leylah Fernandez, had beaten Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 7-5 to reach the final [2]. Fernandez is from Canada [4].

Rybakina wrapped up the opening set in 38 minutes, breaking serve at 4-2 [3]. She broke again to lead 2-1 in the second set [3]. After the match she said it was her second year at the event and her second win there [3]. The winner receives 500 ranking points and $185,500, and Rybakina was defending those points as reigning champion [2]. A title there would also go a long way toward securing the year-end No. 1 ranking [2].

The win was her fourth title of the 2026 season, the most of any player this year [4], and her 15th overall [3]. Her next event is the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo [3]. The season finale in Indian Wells, California, starts on 8 November [3].

Where the ranking stands

Her WTA profile lists her current singles ranking as 1, and her career-high ranking as 1 [1]. Reports from late October 2026 describe her as world No. 1 and the leader in titles won this year [3][4].

The sources do not agree on one title total. Her WTA profile shows 4 singles titles in its statistics block and lists 15 singles titles in its career highlights [1]. The Star counts the Ningbo win as her 15th career title [3]. This page uses that match-report count and notes the gap.