In Cincinnati (USA), due to injury or illness during the quarterfinal match against Poland's Iga Swiatek at the WTA 1000 tournament, Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina withdrew from the tournament and thus failed to rise to the top of the world rankings. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
A unique opportunity to lead the world rankings opened for the Kazakh tennis player after the sensational exit of the current tour leader Aryna Sabalenka in the round of 16. To overtake the Belarusian and take the top spot in the WTA, Rybakina needed to reach at least the final of the tournament.
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) — remains the leader of the world rankings with 8,575 points.
Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) — retains the status of the world's second racket with 8,141 points.
Recall that at this tournament, Rybakina defeated American Taylor Townsend (94th), Polish Magdalena Fręch (41st), and Russian Diana Shnaider (14th).
Despite the setback in Cincinnati, Rybakina still has excellent chances for leadership in the upcoming season, as at the next major tournament — US Open 2026 — Sabalenka will have to defend a huge number of ranking points for last year's title.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Kazakhstan's first racket Elena Rybakina (2), having defeated Russian Diana Shnaider (14) 6:4, 6:4 in two sets, reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open-2026 super tournament in the USA. For a place in the semifinals, our tennis player will compete with her recent final opponent in Toronto, Iga Swiatek (5) from Poland.
The current WTA-1000 Cincinnati Open tournament is the 80th in a row. The oldest tournament in the USA has never changed its location. The competitions are held on outdoor hard courts in Mason, a suburb of Cincinnati (Ohio). The prize fund of the women's Cincinnati Open-2026 is $7.43 million.