Rybakina remains world No. 1, Putintseva climbs 13 places in WTA rankings

Elena Rybakina remained world No. 1 in the latest WTA rankings despite failing to defend 500 ranking points in Wuhan, while Yulia Putintseva climbed to No. 66.

Rybakina, who reached the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open last year, opted to skip the tournament this time, sacrificing ranking points to focus on recovering from a lingering injury. Her main competitor, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, also failed to impress in Wuhan, losing her opening match to American Ann Li, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (5-7).

After coming through qualifying, Putintseva defeated Turkey’s Zeynep Sönmez (No. 59) 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 7-5 before losing to Russia’s Diana Shnaider (No. 13) 2-6, 2-6. The Kazakhstani climbed from No. 79 to No. 66 in the rankings. In January last year, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 20.

Poland’s Maja Chwalińska won the 2026 Wuhan Open, rising to world No. 11 in the latest rankings. In the semifinals, she defeated Iga Świątek 7-5, 6-1. In the final, Chwalińska, the 2026 French Open runner-up, beat Britain’s Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Kartal, meanwhile, reached her first WTA 1000 final and climbed from No. 170 to No. 49 in the rankings.

Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani won the doubles title in Wuhan. The top-seeded duo defeated Australia’s Storm Hunter and Czechia’s Kateřina Siniaková 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Players in the top 10 of the WTA doubles rankings, including Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina, retained their positions.

The leading players will be in Ningbo, China, this week. Rybakina, who is defending her title at the WTA 500 event, will face either Spain’s Cristina Bucșa or Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova in her opening match. Meanwhile, Putintseva, who came through qualifying for the second tournament in a row, will get another chance to avenge her Wuhan loss to Shnaider.

Danilina will also compete in Ningbo, partnering with China’s Jiang Xinyu. The fourth-seeded duo will face Desirae Krawczyk of the U.S. and Hungary’s Fanny Stollár for a place in the quarterfinals.

Rybakina won the tournament last year, defeating Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 in the final.

The prize money for the 2026 Ningbo Open totals $1.2 million.