Elena Rybakina (born June 17, 1999) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. The WTA has ranked her as high as third in the world in women’s singles. Rybakina has 12 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two majors (the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and the 2026 Australian Open), the 2025 WTA Finals, and two WTA 1000 events. Rybakina is the first Kazakhstani to win a major and be ranked among the world’s top ten.

Rybakina, a former junior world number three, began her career competing for Russia before transferring to Kazakhstan in 2018. She broke through in 2020, leading the tour with five finals. Rybakina’s career pinnacle came in 2022 when she won the Wimbledon Championships, followed by a final appearance at the Australian Open in 2023 and a world ranking of third.

Rybakina ended the 2025 season by winning the WTA Finals, followed by an Australian Open championship to begin the 2026 season.

Elena Rybakina Biography

Elena Andreyevna Rybakina was born on June 17, 1999, in the city of Moscow, Russia. She was brought up by her parents, Andrey and Ekaterina Rybakina, who surely had an important role in developing her into the person she has become.

Interestingly, Elena has a sibling named Anna Rybakina. Unfortunately, specifics about her educational background remain unknown at this moment.

Career

Rybakina was formerly the world’s third-ranked junior. She started playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in November 2013 at the age of 14. The following March, she won her first championship at her second professional event, the Grade-3 Almetievsk Cup.

She competed in her first Grade-2 event in June, the Ozerov Cup in Moscow, where she finished second to compatriot Anna Blinkova. She began competing in Grade-1 events in early 2015, but had little success until reaching the final of the Belgian International Junior Championships in May, where she lost to Katharina Hobgarski.

Rybakina made her junior-major debut later that year at the US Open, where she advanced to the third round. After losing in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open, she went on to win two Grade-1 titles.

She struggled at the junior Grand Slam and other Grade-A singles events throughout the rest of the year. Her greatest Grade A result in 2016 came in doubles, where she placed second to Olesya Pervushina and Anastasia Potapova at the Trofeo Bonfiglio, partnering Amina Anshba in an all-Russian final.

Rybakina made her ITF Women’s Circuit debut in December 2014, when she was fifteen years old. While still on the junior circuit, she reached three ITF singles finals and two doubles finals, winning both in 2017.

In October 2017, she made her WTA Tour debut at the Kremlin Cup, where she qualified for the main draw but lost in the first round against Irina-Camelia Begu. Rybakina’s next WTA competition was the St. Petersburg Trophy in February 2018, where she defeated Timea Bacsinszky.

She then defeated world No. 7, Caroline Garcia, in three sets, saving a match point in the second. Although she lost in the next round, her quarterfinal appearance propelled her from No. 450 to No. 268 in the world rankings.

Rybakina won her maiden ITF singles championship in March at a $15k event in Kazan, along with the doubles trophy. Her next substantial ranking climb occurred in April, when she placed second behind Sabina Sharipova at the $60k Lale Cup in Istanbul, propelling her to No. 215.

She entered the top 200 for the first time in late May. Rybakina, who was only nineteen years old at the time, obtained Kazakhstani citizenship and moved federations the following month. The Kazakhstan Tennis Federation had given her financial assistance in changing her nationality, which she preferred over other choices to play college tennis in the United States.

Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, reached her maiden Grand Slam qualifying draw at the 2018 US Open but did not advance to the main draw. Rybakina’s season began at the Brisbane International, where she lost in the quarterfinals against Karolína Muchová, breaking her 13-match winning run.

She subsequently competed in the Australian Open, defeating Kaja Juvan, Varvara Gracheva, Tereza Valentova, and Elise Mertens to advance to her first major quarterfinal since Wimbledon 2024.

She defeated world no. 2 Iga Świątek in the quarterfinals and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals, resulting in a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open and 2025 WTA Finals finals against world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

In the final, she defeated Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in three sets, culminating with an ace to win her first singles championship at the Australian Open and second Grand Slam overall. The triumph propelled her back to world number three for the first time since 2023.

Endorsements

Yonex has sponsored Rybakina’s apparel and shoes since the 2023 French Open. She has previously been promoted by Adidas beginning in early 2020, as well as by Nike. She uses a Yonex VCore 100 racket.

Since 2023, she has been sponsored by Red Bull. On January 24, 2023, Rybakina began to cooperate with Bank RBK In March 2023, Rybakina gave ₸35 million to emerging female tennis players in Kazakhstan.

Awards

• 2022: OrdenDostik Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan) II degree – 2022
• 2025: OrdenBars 1kl rib Order of Barys (Kazakhstan) III degree – 2025

Personal Life

Elena Rybakina is a highly talented tennis player from Kazakhstan, is well-known for her strong skills and spectacular successes on the WTA Tour. Although she has captivated the tennis world with her powerful game and stunning performances, details about her personal life, including her romances and whether she has any children, remain unknown because she prefers to keep these areas of her life secret.

Elena Rybakina Net Worth

Elena Rybakina’s net worth is estimated to be at $5 million. It should be emphasised, however, that these amounts are estimates and may not exactly reflect her actual net worth. Her actual fortune could be greater or lower than the projected amount.

Social Media

Instagram: @lenarybakina