WTA Rankings: Why Elena Rybakina’s Dubai retirement benefits Iga Swiatek
The Dubai Tennis Championships has been ravaged by withdrawals and injuries, and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina is the latest to exit the tournament in unfortunate circumstances.
With Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek both out of the event, world No 3 Rybakina was the top seed at the WTA 1000 event and the de facto title favourite, though was forced to retire at 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 down in her third round clash against Antonia Ruzic on Wednesday.
The Kazakh is one of five women to retire midway through a match across the qualifying and main draw, and is one of over 20 women to have either withdrawn or retired in Dubai.
While there will be huge disappointment for Rybakina, her retirement spells good news for Swiatek in the WTA Rankings — with her world No 2 ranking secure for a few more weeks yet.
How Swiatek remained as world No 2
Rybakina’s Australian Open triumph saw her return to her career-high of world No 3 in the WTA Rankings, with the Kazakh in touching distance of world No 2 Swiatek.
The Kazakh had the chance to overtake Swiatek at the Qatar Open last week, and while she was unable to overtake the Pole, she did close the gap between the two.
Both Rybakina and Swiatek fell at the quarter-final stage in Doha, with the Kazakh beaten by Victoria Mboko and the Pole falling to Maria Sakkari.
While Rybakina matched her 2025 run at the event, Swiatek fell one match short of matching her semi-final run from 2025.
Tennis News
Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek defended by former No 1 after ranking point ‘punishment’ suggestion
Emma Raducanu gets candid advice as she is told to copy Roger Federer coaching move
That meant Swiatek fell from 7,978 points to 7,803 points in the WTA Rankings, while Rybakina remained on 7,523 points — a margin of just 280 points between the two.
However, despite her absence from the Dubai Tennis Championships, Swiatek is now set to increase her lead over the world No 3.
Rybakina had 390 ranking points to defend from her semi-final run in Dubai last year, but will only take 120 points from this year’s event due to her exit in round three.
That means the 26-year-old is set to drop from 7,523 points to 7,253 points in the WTA Rankings, with the Kazakh set to lose ground to Swiatek as a result.
Battle not over yet
Swiatek’s position as the world No 2 is safe for now, but the Pole will be under threat from Rybakina once again when action gets underway in Indian Wells next month.
Both Swiatek and Rybakina have a significant pedigree at the prestigious WTA 1000 event, with the Pole lifting the title in 2022 and 2024, and Rybakina triumphing in 2023.
Swiatek reached the semi-final last year, while Rybakina was beaten in the fourth round — with both losing to Mirra Andreeva, the eventual champion.
While the Pole has just 120 points to defend at the tournament, Swiatek has 390 points.
Both women have the chance to gain significant points, with 1,000 points set to be on offer for the eventual champion.
However, with Rybakina defending fewer points, she will again see this as a big opportunity to chase down Swiatek and crack a new career-high.
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
