The 27-year-old sealed the ranking in Tokyo on Thursday, October 29, when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open. Rybakina became the first player representing Kazakhstan, across both tours and both disciplines, to finish a season at the summit. She is also the first woman from an Asian nation to take the year-end top ranking.
She withdrew from Tokyo a day later with neck inflammation, ending her run at the tournament but with the top spot already secured. Her 2026 match record stands at 54-14.
“Finishing the year as World No.1 in the PIF WTA Rankings for the first time is an incredibly special moment for me,” she told the WTA.
Back-to-back wins over Sabalenka
The platform for the ranking was built on back-to-back Grand Slam wins over Aryna Sabalenka.
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In January, Rybakina beat Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in Melbourne for her first Australian Open title and her second major, following Wimbledon 2022. Eight months later, on September 12 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, she repeated the result 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to lift her first US Open trophy, becoming only the third player since 2000 to win the Australian Open and the US Open in the same season.
The second win also ended Sabalenka’s three-year reign in New York.
Group 1 with Gauff, Pegula and Noskova
The WTA Finals run November 8-15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with eight singles players split into two round-robin groups of four before semifinals on November 14 and the final on November 15.
Rybakina heads Group 1 alongside Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Linda Noskova. Sabalenka leads Group 2, joined by Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Muchova.
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The prize pool is $10 million, with $8 million on the singles side. An undefeated singles champion collects $3.37 million and 1,500 ranking points.
Rybakina is the defending champion. She won the 2025 edition in Riyadh without dropping a match, and returns to the event with a title to protect and the No. 1 ranking already locked in.
Round-robin play begins on Sunday, November 8.
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