Who is Elena Rybakina? Ranking, titles, net worth & everything to know about Aryna Sabalenka’s next opponent
Elena Rybakina’s hopes of progressing in the WTA Finals are over following her opening defeats to Jasmine Paolini and Qinwen Zheng. Aryna Sabalenka’s latest win over Paolini confirmed Rybakina’s exit from the season-ending tournament.Â
Rybakina’s loss to Olympic champion Zheng on Monday meant she required a helping hand from Paolini over Sabalenka if she had any chance of progressing to the semifinals. However, the Italian star faltered under the world number one, who has booked her place in the last four.
Sabalenka will progress to the semifinals in Riyadh as the Purple Group leader, but she will first face Rybakina to complete her round-robin stage. A win for Sabalenka on Wednesday will secure her status as the world number one heading into 2025.Â
Rybakina may be out of contention in the WTA Finals, but she has the chance to exit the tournament with a big performance against Sabalenka.
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Elena Rybakina’s riseRybakina was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1999. She took to tennis at an early age after being told she was ‘too tall’ to compete in her preferred sports, gymnastics and ice skating. After her father suggested tennis as another avenue, she started her journey on the court at just six years old.Â
Rybakina started playing on the ITF Women’s Circuit in 2014 when she was 15. She reached three singles finals and two doubles, winning both the latter finals in 2017 before making her WTA Tour debut at the Kremlin Cup.Â
After breaking into the top 200 in 2018, the then-19-year-old switched federations from Russia to Kazakhstan after acquiring citizenship. At age 20, Rybakina won her first WTA Tour title at the 2019 Bucharest Open.
As she started to reach more finals, her ranking continued to rise. Rybakina cracked the top 20 the following year and continued to record notable moments that turned heads in her direction, including beating Serena Williams at the 2021 French Open. A little more than a year later, Rybakina won her first major title at Wimbledon, beating the likes of Simona Halep and Ons Jabeur along the way.
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How many titles has Elena Rybakina won? Rybakina has won eight WTA singles titles in her career so far and finished as runner-up in 11 more finals. She lifted her first Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon 2022 after coming back from a set down to beat Jabeur in the final. With her milestone achievement, Rybakina became the first-ever player from Kazakhstan to win a major tennis title.Â
Six months later, Rybakina reached the Australian Open final but was denied a second Grand Slam by Sabalenka. The world number one won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Melbourne to lift her first major title.
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What is Elena Rybakina’s ranking?Rybakina is currently fifth in the WTA rankings with 4,971 points, 173 behind closest rival Paolini of Italy. She reached her highest career ranking of third in the world in 2023.
What is Elena Rybakina’s net worth?As of December 2023, Forbes reports that Rybakina has a net worth of $9.5 million.Â
