Rybakina clinches year-end No. 1 for the first time, then pulls out of Tokyo with a neck problem a week before the WTA Finals

Elena Rybakina will finish 2026 as the WTA world No. 1. The Kazakh secured the year-end top ranking at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo by beating Yulia Putintseva 6-2 6-3 on Thursday, 29 October, then withdrew from her quarter-final against Leylah Fernandez on Friday with a neck problem.

A first for Kazakhstan

It is the first time Rybakina has finished a season at No. 1, and Ubitennis noted that she is the first player, man or woman, representing Kazakhstan to do so. The ranking is now safe whatever happens in the last weeks of the season. It caps a year in which she won the Australian Open, Stuttgart, the US Open and, last Sunday, the Ningbo title, the most titles and match wins of any player on the WTA Tour in 2026.

A minor injury, she says

"I've been struggling for a couple of days with a little injury," she said, according to Ubitennis. The WTA described it as neck inflammation and pain, EssentiallySports reported. Fernandez, the player she beat in the Ningbo final, goes through to the semi-finals without playing and meets Kamilla Rakhimova. In the other semi-final, Diana Shnaider came back to beat Alexandra Eala 2-6 7-6 6-4 and meets Mia Pohankova, who knocked out Naomi Osaka earlier in the week.

How she got there

Rybakina's season was built on consistency in big events and a new habit of winning finals. Before Tokyo, the WTA counted 15 career titles for her, nine of them on hard courts, and 11 wins in her last 15 finals, a record she said had changed after years of losing title matches. Her win over Fernandez in Ningbo was also the first time she had ever defended a title. In Tokyo, she had beaten Putintseva in straight sets before the neck problem appeared, and the Ariake Colosseum crowd saw her announce the withdrawal herself before signing autographs. The question now is whether a few days of rest are enough before the season's final event.

Next: the WTA Finals in Indian Wells

The withdrawal comes a week before the WTA Finals, which move to Indian Wells for the first time this year and run from 8 to 15 November with the eight best players of the season. Rybakina is the defending champion, and the injury is not expected to affect her participation. Up-to-date positions are on our WTA rankings page.