Explained: How Elena Rybakina dethroned Aryna Sabalenka to become WTA World No. 1
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Rybakina had been in touching distance of the No. 1 position ever since she won the Australian Open
Elena Rybakina has become the 30th female player to become the WTA World No. 1. The Kazakh got there with a hard-fought win over Qinwen Zheng in the quarter-finals of US Open 2026, and once she had done that, the ranking was hers regardless of what happened next.
Rybakina, who needed to reach the semis to displace Aryna Sabalenka and make the World No. 1 ranking her own, started her quarter-final clash a set behind, her first dropped set of the tournament, before closing it out 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
“It’s just a number right now,” Rybakina said afterwards. “Of course I’m in the semis, so my goal is to win the tournaments I play.”
However, she wasn’t the only player who arrived at Flushing Meadows with the No. 1 ranking in sight. Two-time reigning US Open champion and former world number one Sabalenka, former winner Coco Gauff and 2024 finalist Jessica Pegula were also in the running to climb to the top [retain her position for Sabalenka].
But all three needed to win the title outright to get there, while Rybakina only needed a semi-final finish.
That gap says a lot about how the past 24 months have been for her. Rybakina’s crowning ended a 99-week run at the top for Sabalenka, who had held the ranking since October 2024.
Related: Elena Rybakina displaces Aryna Sabalenka to become new WTA World No. 1
Here’s how Elena Rybakina found her way to the top of WTA rankings
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WTA Finals 2025
The groundwork for this was laid back in November, in Riyadh. Rybakina arrived at the season-ending WTA Finals as the last of the eight qualifiers, after a lot of struggle, as she had to compete in multiple WTA 500 events to secure qualification.
She finished unbeaten, defeating Sabalenka in the final, 6-3, 7-6(0). Rybakina hit 13 aces to Sabalenka’s five, out-winnered her 36-12, and wasn’t broken once. It was her maiden WTA Finals title, and it came with 1,500 ranking points and a record $5.235 million payday.
Australian Open 2026
Rybakina beat Sabalenka again in January, this time in a Grand Slam final. She won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in Melbourne, despite Sabalenka being 3-0 ahead in the third set.
It made her the fourth woman in WTA history beat both the World No. 1 and World No. 2 (Iga Swiatek) at the same major. It also made her the first player in eight years to win the WTA Finals and the following Australian Open back-to-back.
Sunshine Double
This is where Sabalenka actually hit back. She beat Rybakina in the Indian Wells final in March, saving a championship point along the way, then beat her again in the Miami semi-final in straight sets, before dispatching Gauff in that final too, to complete the Sunshine Double.
For the Belarusian though, rankings-wise, she did not add too many points, as she had finished runner-up and winner in the two tournaments in the prior season as well.
Rybakina, on the other hand, had suffered an opening-round exit in Miami 2025, as a result of which she gained valuable points to climb higher.
Related: Why is winning Canada-Cincinnati not as famous as Sunshine Double?
Clay Season
This is when the tables turned around. Rybakina won Stuttgart in April, beating Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-1 for her second title there.
However, barring that and a quarter-final appearance in Rome, the Kazakh had a disappointing clay outing, as she lost early at Roland Garros to Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round.
Sabalenka’s clay season, though, fell apart. She was the defending champion in Madrid and lost in the quarter-finals to Hailey Baptiste. The 28-year-old also shockingly went out in the third round in Rome to Sorana Cirstea.
Then at Roland Garros, seeded No. 1, Sabalenka lost a two-set-and-a-break lead against No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider, dropping the last ten games of the match to bow out.
Sabalenka didn’t win a single clay title all season, which massively reduced the gap between her and Rybakina.
Grass Season
Neither player had a big Wimbledon. Rybakina lost in the third round to Elise Mertens, 7-6(4), 6-1. Sabalenka went out in the fourth round to Naomi Osaka, making this the first time she was missing a major quarter-final since the 2022 French Open.
Rybakina also played in Queen’s and Berlin, but was unable to gain the points she was looking for.
Also Read: Which player has the best odds to win US Open 2026?
North-American swing
The hard-court swing is where the pressure really showed. In Toronto, Rybakina reached her first Canadian Open final, beating Gauff from a set down in the semis, before losing to Swiatek 6-2, 6-3.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, went out in the fourth round to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Then in Cincinnati, Sabalenka, was again upset in the round of 16 by the unseeded Sara Bejlek. That defeat opened the door for Rybakina to overtake her for No. 1 right there with a run to the final, but Rybakina’s own campaign ended in the quarter-finals when she retired with a left ankle injury against Swiatek, trailing 1-4
It all therefore came down to the US Open instead, where Rybakina finally got the job done by reaching the last four, for the first time in New York.
Who did Elena Rybakina replace to become the new WTA World No 1?
Rybakina replaced Aryna Sabalenka as the new WTA World No. 1-ranked player.
How long was Aryna Sabalenka’s reign as WTA World No. 1?
Since reclaiming the top spot in October 2024, Sabalenka remained the WTA World No. 1 for 99 weeks, which is the sixth-longest since WTA rankings were introduced.
When did Elena Rybakina become the WTA World No. 1?
Rybakina climbed to the top after reaching the semi-finals of the ongoing US Open, defeating Qinwen Zheng from a set down. She achieved the historic feat on September 9, 2026.
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