Elena Rybakina: Two Goals for 2026

By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook

Beat the best and strive to become the best.

Elena Rybakina opened the season rallying past world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to capture her second Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open.

Returning to Dubai, where she conducted her pre-season training, world No. 3 Rybakina shared her top two goals for the rest of the season. Win another Grand Slam title and make a run at No. 1.

“Well, it’s definitely a goal,” Rybakina said of securing the top spot. “But depends of course how the other players are going to compete and what results are going to be. The season is so long that I know there is no time to stop, stop working.

“You need to improve every day. We have so many tournaments. Yeah, you need to catch up and you need to keep on going.

“Definitely that’s the goal, to go higher in the ranking, to win another Grand Slam. Yeah, we will see just how this season goes.”

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The 2025 WTA ace leader with 516 aces last season, Rybakina said her signature shot is the product of hard work, hitting her spots and shifting serve spins from the identical toss.

“Definitely a lot of work because it’s quite difficult shot technically,” Rybakina said. “So we worked a lot to get this power and also variety. We are still improving and trying to work on the serve.

“It’s never enough. Yeah, it’s just the work.”