Elena Rybakina is Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She is the reigning champion at Wimbledon and the first Kazakhstani player to win a Grand Slam title. She is also the first to be ranked in the world’s Top 10, with a career-high ranking of world’s No 7 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Elena Rybakina has reached twelve other finals on the WTA Tour, winning three further titles, including a WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open title in 202.
Elena Rybakina was born on June 17, 1999, in Moscow, Russia. She originally focused on gymnastics and ice skating but at the age of 6. She quickly showed her talent and after hard work, developed her skills to the top level. Elena Rybakina had a career-high combined junior ranking of No 3, only beginning to have significant results relatively late in her junior career at the age of 17. She reached two junior Grand Slam semifinals and won a Grade-A title at the Trofeo Bonfiglio in 2017. She also reached the final of the 2015 European Junior Championships and the quarter-finals of the 2016 Canadian Open Junior Championships.
Elena Rybakina made her professional debut in 2014 at the $10,000 Antalya (Turkey), losing in the first round.
In 2015, she reached her first ITF final at the $10,000 Antalya (Turkey). During the season she also played in another ITF tournament in the $10,000 W15 Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), but reached only the second round.
Elena Rybakina turned mostly to the ITF tour in 2016, aiming to gain more experience. She reached the semi-finals of the $25,000 W25 Moscow (Russia) and $10,000 W15 Moscow (Russia) and at the end of the season played her second ITF final at the $15,000 Helsinki (Finland)
In 2017, Elena Rybakina made her WTA debut. After performing great in the junior tour, she debuted at the WTA 500 VTB Kremlin Cup main scheme. Despite, losing to Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round, she started gaining confidence and building her skills. Meanwhile, during the season, she played her third ITF final at $25,000 W25 Fergana (Uzbekistan), but failed to win her first professional title again.
Elena Rybakina finally won her first ITF title in 2018 at the $15,000 W15 Kazan (Russia). A month later, she reached the final of the prestigious $60,000 Istanbul (Turkey). By the end of the season, she played her second WTA tournament, taking part in the WTA 125 Taipei OEC Open.
In 2019, Elena Rybakina started the season with confidence winning three ITF titles at the $60,000 W60 Launceston (Austria), $25,000 W25 Moscow (Russia) and $25,000 W25+H Kazan (Russia). In April, she reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup and in May debuted in Grand Slat at the French Open / Roland Garros. Elena Rybakina reached the semi-finals of the WTA 250 Libema Open and in July won her first WTA title at the WTA 250 BRD Bucharest Open. By the end of the season, she made a great performance, being the runner-up at the WTA 250 Jiangxi Open, reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open and WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz, and the semi-finals of the WTA 250 BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open. After the great second part of the season, she first time entered the world’s Top 50.
In 2020, Elena Rybakina won her second WTA title at the WTA 250 Hobart International. She was also the runner-up at the WTA 500 St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, WTA 500 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, WTA 250 Shenzhen Open, and WTA 250 Internationaux de Strasbourg, as well as reached the third round of the Australian Open. The perfect start of the season for her was disturbed by the short WTA season due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, she finished the season as the world’s No 14.
In 2021, Elena Rybakina reached the quarter-finals of the French Open / Roland Garros and WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Women’s Tennis Open, as well as the semi-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, WTA 500 Chicago Fall Tennis Classic, and WTA 500 Rothesay International Eastbourne. At Wimbledon she also made a remarkable performance reaching the 4th round.
Elena Rybakina made her best season so far in 2022 when she won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. She also was the runner-up at the WTA 500 Adelaide International and WTA 250 Zavarovalnica Sava Portoroz, reached the semi-finals of the WTA 250 AGEL Open, and the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open and WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open.
Her improvement continued in 2023, when she reached the final and remained the runner-up at the Australian Open and WTA 1000 Miami Open, and also won the trophy at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open. Elena Rybakina climbed to the world’s No 7, which is her career-highest position.
Elena Rybakina photos
