{"id":2102035,"date":"2026-08-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2102035"},"modified":"2026-08-20T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T03:00:00","slug":"wta-rankings-how-aryna-sabalenkas-cincinnati-exit-affects-no-1-battle-with-elena-rybakina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2102035","title":{"rendered":"WTA Rankings: How Aryna Sabalenka&#8217;s Cincinnati exit affects No 1 battle with Elena Rybakina"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">WTA Rankings: How Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s Cincinnati exit affects No 1 battle with Elena Rybakina<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"20 Aug 2026 7:00 AM\" data-ps-date=\"20 Aug 2026 7:00 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1787205600\"><br \/>\n                            20 Aug 2026 7:00 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                  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flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"WTA Rankings: How Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s Cincinnati exit affects No 1 battle with Elena Rybakina\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Aryna-Sabalenka-with-inset-of-Elena-Rybakina-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Aryna Sabalenka with inset of Elena Rybakina\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Aryna Sabalenka with inset of Elena Rybakina                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/aryna-sabalenka\">Aryna Sabalenka<\/a>\u2019s stranglehold on the No 1 spot in the WTA Rankings is slipping away following her exit from the Cincinnati Open with Elena Rybakina in prime position to overtake the Belarusian.<\/p>\n<p>Four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka has dominated the top spot the past two years as she replaced Iga Swiatek in October 2024, spending the past 96 weeks at No 1 to take her overall tally to 104 weeks.<\/p>\n<p>But her form has dropped in recent months as, after completing the Sunshine Double in March by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-reacts-remarkable-march-dog-engagement-sunshine-double\">winning the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open<\/a>, she didn\u2019t have the best of clay-court seasons with her best results a couple of quarter-final exits at the Madrid Open and French Open.<\/p>\n<p>She also had a poor grass-court campaign, losing in the round of 16 at Wimbledon and that was followed up by another fourth-round exit at last week\u2019s Canadian Open.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/f-players-over-tennis-legend-calls-huge-reform-iga-swiatek-elena-rybakina-farce\">\u2018F****** the players over\u2019 \u2013 Tennis legend calls for huge reform after Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina farce<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-achievement-not-even-carlos-alcaraz-and-jannik-sinner-managed\">Alex Eala has just achieved something that not even Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have managed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rybakina, meanwhile, kept chipping away at Sabalenka\u2019s lead and she started the Cincinnati event only 354 points adrift at No 2, although the gap increased to 529 as the Kazakh star is defending 390 points this week compared to Sabalenka\u2019s 215.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka managed to pick up 120 points with her run to the round of 16, but her journey was ended by Sara Bejlek as the 20-year-old Czech beat her 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 while Rybakina has reached the quarter-final after beating Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-4.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel incredible,\u201d Bejlek said after the win. \u201cI lost totally my words. I just keep believing and that was the key today. She played amazing tennis and I was just believing, keep fighting and I was just trying my best and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What Rybakina Has To Do<\/h2>\n<p>The reigning Australian Open champion needs to reach the final at the WTA 1000 event in Mason to overtake Sabalenka when the rankings are updated again next week.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka sits on 8,575 points in the Live Rankings following her exit in Cincinnati while Rybakina has 8,141 points after her victory over Shnaider.<\/p>\n<p>But reaching the final will not be easy as she faces the in-form Iga Swiatek \u2013 who won the Canadian Open last week \u2013 in the quarter-final.<\/p>\n<p>Rybakina was beaten in straight sets by Swiatek in Toronto, but if she gets past the Pole then she will take on either Jessica Pegula or Amanda Anisimova for a place in the final.<\/p>\n<p>But Rybakina has been here before as she had opportunities to overtake Sabalenka at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but fluffed her chances.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is bad news for Sabalenka as she is the defending US Open champion so will drop 2,000 points at Flushing Meadows while Rybakina will only defend 240 points following a fourth-round exit in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WTA Rankings: How Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s Cincinnati exit affects No 1 battle with Elena Rybakina Shahida Jacobs 20 Aug 2026 7:00 AM Aryna Sabalenka with inset of Elena Rybakina Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s stranglehold on the No 1 spot in the WTA Rankings is slipping away following her exit from the Cincinnati Open with Elena Rybakina in prime [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2102035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2102035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2102035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2102035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2102035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}