Elena Rybakina has started life as the WTA world No 1 with a handy lead over the chasing pack, but she faces an uphill task to hold off Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff for the year-end No 1 ranking.

The two-time Grand Slam winner became the 30th No 1 in the WTA Rankings on Monday as she ended Sabalenka’s 99-week stint at the top with her surge coming on the back of her US Open title run.

With fellow challengers Pegula and Gauff losing in the semi-final at Flushing Meadows, Rybakina started her reign with a 2,026-point advantage in the official rankings over the outgoing No 1 with Pegula another 610 points adrift in third place and Gauff a further 21 points behind.

WTA Top 5 After US Open

1. Elena Rybakina – 9,901 points

2. Aryna Sabalenka – 7,875

3. Jessica Pegula – 7,265

4. Coco Gauff – 7,244

5. Mirra Andreeva – 5,743

But will that healthy lead be enough to keep the reigning Australian Open and US Open champion ahead of Sabalenka, Pegula and Gauff when the season comes to a conclusion at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells in November?

Rybakina has the most points to defend before the conclusion of the 2026 season with the bulk of that coming from her undefeated run at last year’s WTA Finals as she earned the maximum of 1,500 points.

WTA News

The Kazakh star had a busy Asian swing last year as she competed at the China Open, Wuhan Open, Ningbo Open and Japan Open as she made a last-gasp attempt to qualify for the season-ending tournament in Saudi Arabia.

It was a good decision as she went on to win the WTA Finals, but it means she has a lot of points to defend in the next two months.

Rybakina reached the quarter-finals in Wuhan (215), won the title in Ningbo (500) and was a semi-finalist in Tokyo (195), while she also lost in the second round in Beijing (65), but those points are non-countable.

When her 1,500 tally from the WTA Finals is added, she has 2,410 points to defend until the end of the year.

The Challengers

The four-time Grand Slam winner didn’t compete at the China Open last year, but she reached the semi-final in Wuhan (390) and finished runner-up to Rybakina at the WTA Finals (1,000).

The Belarusian will reduce Sabalenka’s lead without playing a match as she only has 1,390 points to defend.

Pegula was a semi-finalist in Beijing (390), a runner-up in Wuhan 650 and a semi-finalist in Riyadh (400) so she will defend 1,440 points.

Gauff reached the last four at the China Open (390), won the Wuhan Open (1,000) and exited the WTA Finals after the round-robin phase (200) so will drop 1,590 points.

Mirra Andreeva is currently well adrift of the top four, but the French Open champion only has 131 points to defend so a couple of big titles will put her in conversation for the No 1 ranking.

Rankings With Points Removed

1. Rybakina – 7,492

2. Sabalenka – 6,485

3. Pegula – 5,825

4. Gauff – 5,654

5. Andreeva – 5 612

Rybakina has a 1,007-point lead over Sabalenka without last year’s points, but if the Belarusian – or any of the challengers – goes on to win the WTA Finals, that advantage will disappear.

The 27-year-old is no doubt the favourite, but the battle is far from over.