World number one Elena Rybakina has withdrawn from the WTA Finals, announcing that she does not feel physically ready to compete. The twenty-seven-year-old Kazakh player was scheduled to begin her campaign on Sunday in her bid to emulate American legend Serena Williams by becoming the first player since 2014 to win the tournament in consecutive years. However, she confirmed on the eve of the event that she would not be able to defend her title.
Stepping back to recover for the next season
Expressing her disappointment to fans and supporters, Elena Rybakina stated that while she has enjoyed an incredible campaign, her body is simply not ready for high-level competition at this moment. She plans to spend time resting and recovering at home to prepare herself thoroughly for the 2027 season. Her withdrawal ends her remarkable run of matches just as she was set to make a strong push at the prestigious season-ending championship.
A stellar record-breaking year on the tour
This season has marked the most successful period of Elena Rybakina's professional career. She triumphed at both the Australian Open and the US Open, cementing her status as the top-ranked women's singles player for the first time. Her victories also extended to Stuttgart and Ningbo, alongside runner-up finishes at Indian Wells and Toronto. She secured her year-end number-one ranking while competing in Tokyo in October, having previously ended Aryna Sabalenka's ninety-nine-week reign at the summit by defeating the Belarusian in the US Open final.
Dominance on court through powerful statistics
Overall, Elena Rybakina has claimed six of her fifteen career titles since last October, establishing a period of sustained excellence after her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2022. She concludes the year having won fifty-four of her sixty-eight matches, which includes seventeen victories out of nineteen in Grand Slam tournaments. Her dominance was built on tour-leading statistics, including four hundred thirty-eight aces—one hundred forty more than second-placed Aryna Sabalenka—alongside an unmatched one thousand seven hundred seventy-five winners and ten wins against fellow top-ten opponents.
