Rybakina retains No. 1 spot as Andreeva closes gap on Sabalenka in WTA rankings

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan remained world No. 1 in the latest WTA rankings. Russia’s Mirra Andreeva significantly narrowed the points gap to second-placed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Andreeva and Sabalenka did not compete last week as they prepared for the 2026 WTA Finals, scheduled to take place in Indian Wells from Nov. 8 to 15. Rybakina, who had secured the year-end No. 1 ranking after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2026 Pan Pacific Open, subsequently withdrew from her quarterfinal match against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

Russia’s Diana Shnaider won the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo, defeating Fernandez 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final.

Meanwhile, British player Harriet Dart claimed the title at the concurrent WTA 250 tournament in Guangzhou, defeating Austria’s Lilli Tagger 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

In the doubles final, Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova and Maria Timofeeva achieved what Kazakh-Dutch duo Zhibek Kulambayeva and Isabelle Haverlag had failed to do: defeat Chinese Taipei’s I-Hsuan Cho and Yi-Tsen Cho. The Uzbekistani duo won 7-5, 7-6 (7-1).

In the semifinals, Kudermetova and Timofeeva had knocked out Venus Williams and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, winning 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-10.

Meanwhile, Kulambayeva has moved on to the Chennai Open, having successfully come through qualifying in the singles draw. The 26-year-old Kazakhstani defeated Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Kotliar 6-2, 6-3 before overcoming Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Notably, Yamaguchi also made it into the main draw as a lucky loser and has been drawn against Kulambayeva in the opening round. The two will meet again today.

Kulambayeva is also entered in the doubles draw in Chennai. Her new partner will be Australia’s Gabriella Da Silva-Fick. They will face Japan’s Hiroko Kuwata and India’s Ankita Raina in their opening match.

The Chennai Open is a women’s professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It is the successor to the Indian Open, a WTA event that was first held in 2003. Over the years, the event has been staged in various Indian cities and at different levels on the professional tour.

Following the restructuring of the WTA Tour, the tournament was not held between 2009 and 2022. The current WTA 250 edition, offering $283,347 in prize money, will be the last to take place in Chennai, with the tournament moving to the Philippines.