Elena Rybakina officially became the new world No.1 after the weekly updated WTA rankings saw her jump past Aryna Sabalenka on Monday.
Rybakina was already assured of a top spot after her quarterfinal win over Qinwen Zheng at the recently concluded US Open, which the Kazakh star capped off with a win in the final over Sabalenka.
Rybakina has become the first-ever Kazakh, man or woman, to be ranked World No.1 in the singles rankings. She remained on the heels of Sabalenka throughout the season after having produced a strong run, while the Belarusian tennis star had a dip in her form mid-season.
While Sabalenka lost steam in the mid-season, Rybakina had been building her ascent to the top since late last year and had a stellar mid-season this year with dominant performances on the North American hard-court swing, which was followed by her success in the Big Apple.
Rybakina had also reacted to being assured of the No.1 spot. “It’s history, and I’m very proud to be representing Kazakhstan,” Rybakina had said, as quoted by WTA.
“I never thought that I’m going to be professional or I’m going to be even playing on these kind of tournaments on the biggest stages,” she added.
Sabalenka reacted to Rybakina replacing her at the top after her loss to the Kazakh in the Flushing Meadows final. On being informed that she held the top spot for 99 weeks, she joked whether Rybakina can beat her in this. “Let’s see if Elena can beat me in that,” she quipped. “She continue(s) to play like that, then yeah, I’m in trouble,” Sabalenka added.
Rybakina had defeated Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win her first US Open title. “It’s just incredible. I still can’t believe it. I mean, no words,” said Rybakina after the title win.
The Kazakh had not even touched her racquet for seven days before the tournament and revealed that her preparations in New York were far from ideal.
“Somehow, day by day, we were trying to find a way, adapting to all the challenges I was waking up with every day. I was not touching my racquet for seven days before the tournament,” she said.
Despite the uncertainty, Rybakina managed to put together a title-winning campaign after just four days of practice. “Just four days of practice, a lot of belief in yourself and talking with the team nonstop about the tactics, how I played in Canada, how I played in Cincinnati. I mean, it’s just so many things. Everything went my way. I’m shocked,” she said.
