Elena Rybakina is a Kazakh tennis player, world No. 1 since September 14, 2026, and the winner of three Grand Slam titles: Wimbledon in 2022, then the Australian Open and the US Open in 2026. She is the first player from Kazakhstan to reach No. 1.

She won the 2025 WTA Finals, but on November 7, 2026, she withdrew from this year’s edition in Indian Wells with a medical issue. She will still finish 2026 as world No. 1.

Why did Elena Rybakina withdraw from the 2026 WTA Finals?

The WTA announced her withdrawal on the eve of the tournament, citing a medical issue. She was due to open Group 1 against Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, and Marta Kostyuk took her place.

“My body is just not physically ready to compete,” Rybakina said in a statement. She will rest at home and prepare for the 2027 season, after a 2026 season in which she went 54-14 and won four titles.

At the US Open, she had already said that her priority for 2027 was her health. “I’m not getting younger,” she said.

When did Elena Rybakina become world No. 1?

She secured the top spot at the 2026 US Open, where she beat Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, ending Aryna Sabalenka’s run of 99 weeks at No. 1. She became the 30th world No. 1 since the WTA rankings began in 1975 when the rankings were published on September 14.

“It’s just a number right now,” she said. In her first match at the top, in Beijing, No. 118 Alina Charaeva beat her 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, making Rybakina only the second player after Naomi Osaka to lose her first match as No. 1.

How many Grand Slam titles has Elena Rybakina won?

Three. She won Wimbledon in 2022, beating Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the final, and became the first Kazakh player to win a major.

At the 2026 Australian Open, she beat Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 in the quarter-finals, then came back from 0-3 down in the final set to beat Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the final. Three years earlier, Sabalenka had beaten her 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the 2023 final.

At the 2026 US Open, where she had never passed the fourth round, she beat Osaka 6-1, 6-4, then Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final. Only Steffi Graf, in 1995, had previously beaten a reigning world No. 1 in two Grand Slam finals in the same year.

“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” she said on court. “This atmosphere is just something unbelievable, and it doesn’t feel real for now.”

Can Elena Rybakina complete the career Grand Slam?

She needs Roland-Garros, the only major where she has never gone past the quarter-finals. She reached the last eight there in 2021, after beating Serena Williams in the round of 16.

In 2026, as the second seed, she lost in the second round to Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva, who won 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Has Elena Rybakina won the WTA Finals?

Yes, in 2025 in Riyadh. After qualifying in last position, she went unbeaten through the week and beat Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) in the final, earning a record prize of $5.235 million.

In 2024, she lost her first two matches in Riyadh before beating Sabalenka 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in her last group match.

What is Elena Rybakina’s head-to-head record against Aryna Sabalenka?

Sabalenka leads 10-8 after the 2026 US Open final. Rybakina won their two Grand Slam finals of 2026, but Sabalenka beat her in the Indian Wells final, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), and in the Miami semi-finals, 6-4, 6-3.

How many titles has Elena Rybakina won?

15. Her first came in Bucharest in 2019, then Hobart in 2020 and Wimbledon in 2022. She won Indian Wells and Rome in 2023, and Brisbane, Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart in 2024. In Stuttgart, she won a car but had no driving licence, so she was driven into the arena for her lap of honour.

In 2025, she won Strasbourg, Ningbo for her 10th title and the WTA Finals. In 2026, she won the Australian Open, Stuttgart, where she beat Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-1, the US Open and Ningbo, where she beat Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-2 for her first title as world No. 1.

Who is Elena Rybakina’s coach?

Stefano Vukov, who coached her from 2019 to her 2022 Wimbledon title. They split in August 2024, and the WTA then suspended him for a potential breach of its code of conduct. Rybakina said he had never mistreated her.

In the meantime, she worked with Goran Ivanisevic until the 2025 Australian Open, then with Davide Sanguinetti. They reunited after Vukov’s suspension was lifted in August 2025. “I believe he is a great asset because he knows me better than anyone,” she said in Melbourne.

Why is Elena Rybakina called the Ice Queen?

Fans and media have called her the “Ice Queen” since 2023 for her calm on court and her almost emotionless reactions, even after the biggest points. She describes it as a tactical shield that stops opponents from sensing any dip in confidence.

“The heart rate was definitely beating too fast. Even maybe my face didn’t show, but inside it was a lot of emotions,” she said after the 2026 Australian Open final. Her serve, which has been compared to Novak Djokovic’s, gave her a tournament-high 47 aces in Melbourne.

What injuries has Elena Rybakina had?

Her body has often interrupted her seasons. In 2024, she withdrew from the US Open before her second-round match and missed the Asian swing with a back injury.

In 2026, she retired in Dubai in February and in the Cincinnati quarter-finals against Swiatek in August. She said she could not walk without pain in the days after Cincinnati, three weeks before winning the US Open.

Is Elena Rybakina Russian?

She was born in Russia but has represented Kazakhstan since July 2018, after the Kazakh federation offered her sporting and financial support when she turned professional. That allowed her to play Wimbledon in 2022, when Russian and Belarusian players were banned.

“I didn’t choose where I was born. People believed in me. Kazakhstan supported me so much,” she said after the 2022 final.

How old is Elena Rybakina and how tall is she?

Elena Rybakina was born on June 17, 1999, in Moscow, which makes her 27. She is 1.84m (6ft) tall, according to her WTA profile.

As a child, she also practised gymnastics and skating with her sister, before growing too tall and devoting herself to tennis.

When did Elena Rybakina turn professional?

She started playing at six and played her first ITF match at 15, in Turkey in 2014. She turned professional in 2017, playing her first WTA tournament in Moscow, and made her name in 2018 by beating world No. 7 Caroline Garcia in St. Petersburg.

In 2020, she told Tennis Majors that her goal was to become world No. 1. She is on Instagram as lenarybakina.