"It’s definitely a goal": Elena Rybakina targets World No. 1 after Australian Open triumph

he recent Australian Open champion, Elena Rybakina, aims to continue rising on the Tour and take a step forward, after winning her second Grand Slam title. The Kazakh acknowledged that reaching the top of the ranking – and continuing to add Grand Slam titles – is among her goals.

After the title in Melbourne, Rybakina advanced to world No. 3, matching her best ranking, first achieved in 2023. The Kazakh now has serious ambitions of climbing even higher – and this very week she could surpass Iga Swiatek as No. 2 if she achieves a strong campaign at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where the Kazakh will be the first seed.

Rybakina arrives in Dubai after losing her winning streak at the Qatar Open last week. After nine consecutive victories, she ended up falling in the quarter-finals against Victoria Mboko – the tournament’s eventual runner-up. The 26-year-old had scored 11 aces and won 83% of points on her first serve, but it was not enough against Mboko, who produced her best tennis in the final minutes to secure the victory.

In any case, Rybakina left with positive feelings from her run in the first WTA 1000 of the year. The next objective is in Dubai this week, where she can continue climbing positions in the ranking. She needs to reach at least the semi-finals this week and would definitively push Swiatek out of the top-2.

Recently, the Pole withdrew from the tournament – after the disappointment of being defeated in Dubai. Swiatek announced that she had made a change in her schedule, and, like Aryna Sabalenka, opted to pull out of the tournament and focus on her preparation for Indian Wells.

In a recent interview with the Al Ersal podcast, Elena Rybakina addressed her next objectives for the season and the possibility of fighting this year to reach the top of the ranking. "It's definitely a goal. But it depends how the other players compete & what the results are gonna be. The season is so long. There’s no time to stop working. You need to improve every day."

The 2022 Wimbledon champion is first in the WTA Race with 2,330 points – just over 500 points ahead of Aryna Sabalenka (1,800). In the official ranking, however, Sabalenka is still at a wide distance of 3,000 points from her closest pursuer Swiatek, and more than 3,400 points from Rybakina.

The Kazakh knows she needs to maintain consistency throughout the season if she wants to reach the top of the ranking, knowing that there is not much time to rest in the busy season, in which Rybakina trusts she can fight for another major title. “We have so many tournaments, so it’s… yeah. You need to keep going. Definitely that's the goal to go higher in the ranking & win another Slam.”

Recently, the Kazakh also referred to the possibility of playing Grand Slam tournaments in five sets, after the director of Tennis Australia, Craig Tiley, hinted that from 2027 women could play five-set matches at the Australian Open – starting from the quarter-finals. However, the defending champion acknowledges that she does not entirely agree with the idea.

“I would like to stick to three sets,” said Rybakina before the quarter-finals in Doha. “Five, it’s quite a lot. I’m not sure that the quality of the matches would be as good. But I don’t know how much players will have a voice on who is going to decide but it’s quite difficult.”

Rybakina will debut on Tuesday in Dubai as the first seed, against the Australian Kimberly Birrell (No. 96). They had a previous encounter in April 2025 in the Billie Jean King Cup, in which the Australian gave Rybakina a good fight, but the Kazakh ended up winning 6-3, 7-6(4).

The Kazakh will face a tough challenge in Dubai if she wants to reach the top-2 immediately by the end of this week. For that, she must at least reach the semi-finals. On a potential path to the semi-finals, high-profile rivals could appear, such as Emma Raducanu, Belinda Bencic, Paula Badosa, or Elina Svitolina. It remains to be seen whether Rybakina can maintain the momentum from the start of the season.