What Elena Rybakina said about clinching year-end No 1 ranking at Pan Pacific Open
Elena Rybakina has reacted after she clinched the year-end No 1 ranking by winning her opening match at the 2026 Pan Pacific Open.
The three-time Grand Slam champion earned a decisive 6-2, 6-3 victory over her fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in the second round at the WTA 500 event in Tokyo on Thursday.
Rybakina has extended her winning streak to five matches after claiming four victories en route to capturing the Ningbo Open title last week.
On 14 September, Rybakina overtook Aryna Sabalenka to become the world No 1 for the first time.
The 27-year-old overcame Sabalenka in the US Open final the previous week, while she also downed the Belarusian in the Australian Open championship match in January.
After beating Putintseva in Tokyo, Rybakina spoke about her year-end No 1 achievement.
“It means a lot, this is something we worked for with the team,” said the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion.
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“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.”
Rybakina faced just a single break point against Putintseva — which she saved when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
The Kazakh landed 63% of her fist serves, and she won 74% of points behind her first serve and 57% of points on her second delivery.
The world No 1 highlighted the importance of her serving performance.
“Today the serve definitely helped me in the important moments,” Rybakina said.
“I was just trying to pick my spot and I think today with a closed roof and a combination of the balls and the court made me feel better serving. I’m glad today it worked.”
Rybakina will face world No 23 Leylah Fernandez in the Pan Pacific Open quarter-finals on Friday.
It will be a rematch of the final at last week’s WTA 500 in Ningbo, which Rybakina won 6-2, 6-2.
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