‘A fit, healthy and happy Elena Rybakina will be very dangerous in 2026’
Elena Rybakina’s magnificent finish to the 2025 tennis season bodes well for next year with Sky Sports Tennis presenter Gigi Salmon warning her rivals that she could “clean up in 2026”.
Having struggled with form, injury and illness during the first half of this campaign, Rybakina bounced back brilliantly during the latter stages of the season as she won the Ningbo Open and reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open to secure her place at the WTA Finals.
And she went on to dominate the season-ending tournament in Riyadh as she beat six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova and Ekaterina Alexandrova in the group phase, Jessica Pegula in the semi-final, before defeating world No 1 and reigning US Open winner Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Her reward was a $5.235m cheque – the biggest-ever in women’s tennis – and 1,500 ranking points that helped her to climb to No 5 in the WTA Rankings.
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Salmon believes now that Rybakina has put some of her on-court and off-court struggles behind her, she could be the player to beat in 2026.
“Someone who was full of energy as she sprinted to the finish line was Rybakina who won Ningbo and reached the semi-finals in Tokyo to secure her place in the WTA Finals and then go on to win the final – undefeated – and collect a cheque for $5.235m!” she told Sky Sports Tennis.
“Rybakina has a game which, when she’s on, can make her unplayable. The difficulty in recent years has been the consistency whether due to illness or difficulties off the court which saw her coach Stefano Vukov provisionally suspended from the tour at the start of the year. A lengthy investigation by the WTA found him to have breached the code of conduct, specifically for ‘abuse of authority and abusive conduct.
“Rybakina maintained throughout the process that she was never mistreated by Vukov and on appeal, the ban was lifted in August and he returned to the coaching box.”
There is no doubt that with Croatian mentor Vukov back by her side following a lengthy struggle with the WTA that lasted nearly 12 months and will no doubt challenge the 2025 Grand Slam winners Madison Keys, Gauff, Swiatek and Sabalenka at the four biggest events on the tennis calendar.
Salmon added: “A fit, healthy and happy Rybakina will be very dangerous in 2026 and it all bodes well for great competition, continued rivalries and a strength in depth in the women’s game…”
