"It's mostly about improvement and consistency. If it happens, it's great" - Elena Rybakina hushes possible World No.1 fight as Stuttgart Open remains priority

Elena Rybakina is leading a stacked field into the Stuttgart Open. The number one seed is the favourite to take home the title like she did in 2024, and gain an extra 500 points on her ranking which would edge her closer to the chance of one day becoming the world number one.

For now, her focus is on silverware in Germany. She won the title in 2024 before skipping it last year. This means that her most recent defeat in Stuttgart came back in 2023, where she retired in the second round.

The chance for another final and title seems a long way away. A lot of tennis needs to be played before that eventually happens. The two-time Grand Slam champion will take on Diana Shnaider in her last-16 clash, opening her tournament with a tricky test. She was excited for the test and to be back in Stuttgart. "It's really nice to be back," she said in her press conference. "I didn't play last year, but yeah, really excited to start here my clay court season."

This is Rybakina's first venture on clay in 2026. Not many tournaments on this surface are played indoors, with the is being the most notable. It make the tournamenet unique in a way and one for players to grab at the opportunity if they can get used to the surroundings.

For Rybakina, she comes into the tournament prepared and ready having stated her positive feelings for indoor tennis. "Well, I think indoor, it's easier to play, no conditions, no sun, no wind. Honestly, I have been practicing now mostly indoor also. I think it's great to start here. Even if it's not outdoor and maybe not real clay, you still slide, and as a start, I think it's really nice."

Rybakina has also been practicing indoors as well, making the transition process not as hard. After playing on hardcourts since August, it can be tricky at times to switch to a completely different surface.

The Kazakh chose to go to Bratislava, Slovakia, to commence her preparations, once she had recovered from the Sunshine swing. "Well, I had a couple of days off, and honestly, jet lag was pretty tough from Miami, so I was mostly sleeping," she stated.

Fitness proved to be a key focus for Rybakina and her team. After a lot of tennis was played at the Sunshine swing, she was looking to get back to her fittest. "After we started preparation, I needed to do some work physically, because Indian Wells, Miami, long tournaments, and on the last match, I felt that my fitness dropped a little bit and I definitely need to work on it. It was just couple days, and then preparation."

There is a scenario in which Rybakina becomes world number one at the end of the clay swing. With this being her overall goal, a huge opportunity has arisen for her to pounce on. The current world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, has a lot of points to defend.

Despite the Belarusian being over 3000 points clear at this time, she has a lot of points to defend. This first includes the points coming from her run to the final in Stuttgart last year. She will not be competing in the tournament, thus giving Rybakina a chance to close the gap. The Madrid Open title, a Rome Open quarterfinal and the points she collected from losing to Coco Gauff are all on the line. This means that she needs to be almost faultless once more to remain, or even better, the tally she is now on.

Rybakina, however, has a lot less to defend. Aside from a WTA 250 title won in Strasbourg, it was a hugely frustrating clay swing. Third round exits in Madrid and Rome came before a fourth round defeat at Roland Garros, leaving much work to be done.

A number of points are up for grabs which could close her in on the number one spot, but that is something she is not contemplating. "I don't really think about it so much, because she's not here, but I still need to perform," she admitted. "That's the first thing. And if I do the right things, I think the most important to get, achieve this and somehow to maintain, and it's very difficult, difficult goal, and I'm working for it, so hopefully it will happen."

If she does become number one sometime in the future, then that is great, but the main focus for now is improving as a tennis player and winning titles. "But I don't really look at the points each tournament. I just know that I need to do well, at this point to come almost till the end of the tournament no matter what I play. Yeah, it's mostly about improvement and consistency. If it happens, it's great."

This position she is in seems like a hugely unlikely one compared to the state she was in last year. Struggling for form and consistency, it was not until the end of the year where she managed to just qualify for the WTA Finals that it really exploded. This year alone, she has won the Australian Open while reaching the final and semi-final of Indian Wells and Miami Open, losing to Sabalenka on both occasions.

"Well, of course I'm proud of the work we did with the team," she commented. "For now, it's been consistent, the result, and the way I played from end of last year and this year too. I played also after Australia, which was really short time, but I played Doha, Dubai. Wasn't feeling the best, but overall, I'm really happy with all the tournaments, all the matches I played. Some matches was really close, but in the end, the consistency for now is there, and I'm just hoping to maintain and keep on going."

Rybakina is a fan of music on court. She was a fan of it at certain times of the match with the vibe and energy it gave off throughout the stadium and grounds, especially to pump the crowd up.

"I actually like when there is music on the court, on the changeovers, and of course when you enter the courts. I would say just need to give some energy, and it's nice for the crowd."

When asked where the best tennis tournament DJs were, she pointed out the recent ones in the USA. "I think now Indian Wells, Miami was good DJ, what I remember what they were choosing. Yeah, I think that's important, not only for the players, it's just for the crowd."