Elena Rybakina secured the year-end women’s singles world number one ranking by beating Yulia Putintseva 6-2 6-3 in the last 16 of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The result means she cannot be overtaken in the closing weeks of a stellar year in which she has won the Australian Open and US Open titles.
Rybakina triumphed at the Ningbo Open last week to win her fourth title of 2026. After a first-round bye in Tokyo, she served six aces and produced 25 winners in beating Putintseva. She will face former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, whom she beat 6-2 6-2 in the Ningbo Open final, in the Tokyo quarter-finals.
Speaking about the year-end ranking, Rybakina said: “It means a lot. This is something we worked for with the team.
“So many great players and we are all really close to each other, and I’m happy that now with last week and with today’s win I made it possible to secure number one at the end of the year.
“It’s an amazing achievement and hopefully we can continue this way next year.”
The 27-year-old, who like Putintseva represents Kazakhstan, beat Aryna Sabalenka in the finals of the Slams in Melbourne and New York this year. She usurped the Belarusian to become world number one in September, after 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.
Rybakina’s journey to world number one
Rybakina’s push for the top ranking started 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 and then beat Sabalenka to win the season-ending WTA Finals.
She carried that momentum into 2026, getting the better of Sabalenka again, this time in a major final. She beat her fellow big server in three competitive sets to win the Australian Open, her second Slam title, almost four years after her first at Wimbledon.
Since then, Sabalenka has come out on top in their Indian Wells final and Miami Open semi-final, but Rybakina took the Stuttgart title on clay as Sabalenka’s form fluctuated. After disappointing early exits at the French Open and Wimbledon, Rybakina reached the final in Toronto, losing in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.
Her quest to overtake long-time rankings leader Sabalenka then suffered another setback when she was forced to retire injured from her Cincinnati Open quarter-final against Swiatek. Rybakina later revealed that a 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 that she felt she had it “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. However, that did not stop her from becoming world number one and winning the event.