Rybakina beats Putintseva at Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, secures Year-End No.1 spot

Tokyo: World No. 1 Elena Rybakina defeated Kazakhstani compatriot Yulia Putintseva in the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis second round, 6-2, 6-3, to secure the Year-End No.1 spot for the first time in her career.

Rybakina produced a strong outing in Tokyo to beat Putintseva in the 70-minute contest, where she did not lose her serve and had to save the only break point in the final game of the match.

She won 75% of her first-serve points and 57% of her second-serve ones. The Kazakh also nailed six aces and finished the game with an ace only. "It's always difficult matches against Yulia," Rybakina said in her on-court interview. "I was ready for longer rallies. She plays a lot of drop shots and changing the rhythm, so I was happy I stayed focused, stayed aggressive, and a lot of things worked for me today.

"I think the closed roof a little bit also helped me. I like to play in these kinds of conditions. The ball is flying a bit faster; generally, I think the conditions suit me really well."

This will be the first year where Rybakina will end as the Year-End No.1. She was No. 3 at the end of 2023 and 2024 and No. 5 in 2025. Rybakina had become the World No.1 during her US Open 2026 win, when she captured her third Grand Slam.

The Kazakh now has a 3-2 record against Putintseva. She had lost her first two matches against Putintseva (at Rome 2020 and Indian Wells 2021). Rybakina then won a marathon 2-hour and 48-minute clash against her compatriot in the 2024 Madrid quarterfinals, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 and then also beat her in the second round in Miami earlier this year.

Rybakina will now face Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals. She had defeated the Canadian in the Ningbo Open final last week. Fernandez came into the Tokyo quarterfinals after beating No. 8 seed Elise Mertens 6-2, 7-6(8).

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