By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, October 1, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
Elena Rybakina followed up her US Open dream run with some much needed shut-eye in China.
“I’ve been sleeping a lot, not doing much,” Rybakina told the media in Beijing today. “This is what I needed to recover. I didn’t go anywhere yet here in Beijing. Hopefully, yeah, some days after the matches, we will see.”
The second-seeded Rybakina dethroned two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to capture her maiden US Open championship and third Grand Slam crown last month.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion bookends the 2026 season with Slam title trophies ruling Melbourne and reigning as Queen of Queens as the first Kazakh to win the US Open singles championship.
Now, the new world No. 1 has set her sights on a couple of historic goals: Finish 2026 as year-end world No. 1 and win Roland Garros to complete the career Grand Slam.
“I think at the US Open I said it will be nice to win French Open, then it’s going to be four slams,” Rybakina said of attaining the career Grand Slam. “I mean, now I’m No. 1, which is great. Still it’s not end of the season. I would like to push and finish at No. 1.
“I mean, who knows what’s going to happen. It’s a lot of good players, a lot of tough opponents. Anything can happen.”
The 2022 Wimbledon winner’s best Roland Garros result is a pair of quarterfinal finishes in 2021 and 2024.
Though the strong-serving Rybakina has won Grand Slam titles on grass and hard courts, she has had some success on red clay. The 2023 Rome champion has won Stuttgart, which is typically a faster red clay, two of the last three years. Rybakina defeated Diana Shnaider, Leylah Fernandez, Mirra Andreeva and Karolina Muchova in succession to capture Stuttgart last April.
Throughout her career, Rybakina has faced the toughest major road in Paris. Can she conquer the terre battue to complete the career Slam?
Asked her mind set as world No. 1, Rybakina said she’s focused on staying healthy and enjoying her tennis and time at the top of the sport.
“I just came No. 1. I feel like the most important is to enjoy,” Rybakina said. “It’s not easy always. For that I have people around me. Sometimes I can be down or up.
“It’s important to enjoy. I think today was the first practice where I would say, okay, I feel a bit my foot. It was not maybe the greatest feeling that you have some physical issues.
“I really enjoy the practice. I think that’s the most important. I love to compete.”
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