In the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, released after the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, world No. 2 Elena Rybakina remained in the same position. She has decided to take a break from tournament competition until August.
The grass-court season has officially ended. Tennis stars are switching to the hard-court season. The series of tournaments on the surface precedes the season’s final Grand Slam. The 2026 U.S. Open will be held from Aug. 30 to Sept. 13.
Kazakhstan’s top-ranked player, who hasn’t recently produced the trademark tennis or high-profile victories fans have come to expect, has decided to take a break from tournament competition. At least until early August, Rybakina will focus on training.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s other women players continue their season. Yulia Putintseva is playing at the WTA 250 Iași Open in Romania, one of the final two clay-court tournaments of the season. The other will be held in Hamburg from July 20 to 26.
In the first round, she will face France’s 25-year-old Clara Burel. The pair have met only once before, with Putintseva winning 6-3, 6-4 at the 2024 Birmingham Classic.
Zhibek Kulambayeva is also competing at the Iași Open. The 26-year-old Kazakh player advanced to the second round of qualifying with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory over Sweden’s Lisa Zaar, also 26. She will next face Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz for a place in the main draw.
Kulambayeva will also play doubles. She and Russia’s Alina Charaeva will face Russia’s Maria Kozyreva and Elena Pridankina in the first round.
Known commercially as the UniCredit Iași Open, the tournament was first held in 2022. The clay-court event was elevated to WTA 250 status in 2025, replacing the Hungarian Grand Prix on the WTA calendar.
This year’s tournament has a total prize pool of $283,347. Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian is the top seed.
