Rybakina clinches year-end world No. 1 after Pan Pacific Open win
Elena Rybakina secured the year-end women's singles world number one ranking on 29 October 2026 when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-2 6-3 in the last 16 of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The victory means she cannot be overtaken in the closing weeks of a year in which she won the Australian Open and the US Open.
The 27-year-old Rybakina, who represents Kazakhstan, has won three Grand Slam titles in her career. A quarter-final victory over China's Zheng Qinwen at the US Open made sure she would move to the top of the singles rankings for the first time.
After a first-round bye in Tokyo, Rybakina served six aces and produced 25 winners in her 6-2 6-3 win over Putintseva, who also competes for Kazakhstan. She will face former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-finals. Rybakina beat Fernandez 6-2 6-2 in the Ningbo Open final.
Rybakina triumphed at the Ningbo Open last week to claim her fourth title of 2026. Earlier in the year she beat Aryna Sabalenka in the finals in Melbourne and New York and usurped the Belarusian to become world number one on the way to her US Open victory in September.
Rybakina's push for the world number one ranking began at the end of 2025. After losing to Sabalenka in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open last October, she took the Ningbo Open title one week later before beating Sabalenka to win the season-ending WTA Finals.
She carried that momentum into 2026 by defeating Sabalenka again in the Australian Open final in three competitive sets, winning her second Grand Slam almost four years after her first at Wimbledon. Sabalenka later won the Indian Wells final and the Miami Open semi-final, while Rybakina won the Stuttgart title on clay as Sabalenka's form fluctuated.
Rybakina had setbacks mid-season, including disappointing early exits at the French Open and Wimbledon and a straight-sets loss to Iga Swiatek in the Toronto final. Her quest to overtake the long-time rankings leader suffered another blow when she was forced to retire injured from her Cincinnati Open quarter-final against Swiatek; Rybakina later revealed that the left ankle problem, which hindered her movement and prevented her pushing off properly when serving, had been "bothering me for a long period of time" but was something she felt she had "under control".
Speaking before the US Open, Rybakina admitted her preparation "wasn't great" as she was unable to train for much of the week leading into the tournament, but that did not stop her from becoming world number one and winning the event.
Rybakina's next tournament will be the defence of her singles title at the season-ending WTA Finals, which take place from 8-15 November in Indian Wells.
