The Rybakina–Sabalenka rivalry is a tennis rivalry between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka, who have competed in 18 matches between 2019 and 2026, including three major finals.
The rivalry is defined by aggressive, high-powered baseline tennis, with both players relying on big serves and flat, penetrating groundstrokes to dominate rallies. It has evolved into one of the most evenly contested matchups on the WTA Tour, with Sabalenka leading 10–8. Rybakina leads in finals with 5–2 in tour finals, and 2–1 in major finals.
Their matches are closely contested, often going to a decisive third set. The rivalry is considered one of the best of its time. They have played multiple matches regarded as best of the era, including their 2023 Australian Open and 2026 Indian Wells Open finals, both won by Sabalenka, and the finals of the 2026 Australian Open and 2025 WTA Finals, both won by Rybakina.
Both players have held the world No. 1 ranking. Sabalenka held the distinction for a combined 107 weeks between 2023 and 2026. Rybakina usurped the position after defeating Sabalenka in the final at the 2026 US Open, earning 3 weeks atop the rankings as of September 28, 2026. Since March 2026, they have been ranked as the top two players.
History 2019 Rybakina and Sabalenka played their first match in September 2019 at the Wuhan Open quarterfinals. Rybakina entered the tournament as a wild card and battled Sabalenka for three sets before Sabalenka came out on top en route to winning her second Wuhan title.
2021 Rybakina and Sabalenka played each other twice in 2021, with Sabalenka winning both meetings.
Sabalenka won their first meeting of the year in the Abu Dhabi quarterfinals, defeating Rybakina in three sets on her way to winning the title.
The two met in the Wimbledon round of 16, with Sabalenka overcoming Ryabkina in three sets to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. This was the pair's first Grand Slam meeting.
2023
Rybakina and Sabalenka met four times in 2023, with both players winning two matches each.
Rybakina and Sabalenka's first meeting of the year came in the final of the Australian Open in which Sabalenka came from a set down to win the match 4–6, 6–3, 6–4. This was Sabalenka's first major title.
They met again at the Indian Wells where Rybakina prevailed 7–6(11), 6–4 winning her first WTA 1000 tournament in her career. This was also Rybakina's first victory over Sabalenka in five matches.
Rybakina earned her second win later that year in China, dispatching the top seeded Sabalenka in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
They had their final meeting of the year in the WTA Finals, and despite a 15-minute rain delay along with 15 double faults, Sabalenka fought her way past Rybakina in three sets to advance to the semifinals. They would close the year with their head-to-head record at 5–2 in Sabalenka's favor.
2024 Rybakina and Sabaleka played three times in 2024, with Rybakina winning two of them, closing the gap in their head-to-head at 6–4 for Sabalenka.
Their first match was the final in Brisbane where Rybakina won easily 6–0, 6–3.
They had another notable encounter in Madrid that Sabalenka won in three sets despite being down a set and a break.
The two played their final match of the year at the WTA Finals once again, however this time it was Rybakina who came through in three sets. With this win, Rybakina became the first player representing an Asian country to defeat a world number 1 in the WTA Finals.
2025 Rybakina and Sabalenka met each other four times in 2025, both winning two matches each.
Their first meeting of the year came in the Berlin quarterfinals. After splitting the first two sets, Rybakina held four match points at 6–2 in the third set tiebreaker, before Sabalenka fought back to win 7–6(6), 3–6, 7–6(6) in 2 hours and 42 minutes. This would become their longest match so far.
The two met again on the hard courts of Cincinnati, where Sabalenka was the defending champion. However, Rybakina routinely defeated her in the quarterfinals in straight sets 6–1, 6–4.
Sabalenka returned the favor at the Wuhan quarterfinals, dispatching Rybakina in straight sets 6–3, 6–3.
Their most significant meet-up of the year was at the WTA Finals which Rybakina won by 6–3, 7–6(0) to secure her first WTA finals title. This win brought their head-to-head to 8–6 with Sabalenka holding her lead.
2026 Rybakina and Sabalenka have met four times in 2026 (twice in major finals), with both winning two matches.
Their first meeting of the year was at the Australian Open final, a rematch of their 2023 final won by Sabalenka. This was the first time since 2008 Wimbledon that both finalists reached the final without losing any set. In the final, Rybakina broke Sabalenka to win the first set before Sabalenka came back to win the second set. Carrying the momentum into third set Sabalenka took a 3–0 lead in third set. However Rybakina broke her twice to get into a 4–3 lead. Rybakina then sealed the match with an ace. This was Rybakina's second major title.
They met again at the Indian Wells Open final, a rematch of their Indian Wells Open won by Rybakina. Rybakina started the match breaking Sabalenka in sixth game and took the first set. She started the second set breaking Sabalenka again. However, Sabalenka then earned two consecutive breaks to close the set. In the third set, Sabalenka started with an early break to lead 1–0, then after eight consecutive holds of the serve, the score became 5–4. However, Rybakina broke Sabalenka while she was serving for the match, leveling the score 5–5 before eventually heading towards a tiebreaker. The tiebreak was competitive for the majority of the time, with Rybakina serving for the match at 6–5, but Sabalenka hit a crosscourt backhand winner to tie up the match once again. Sabalenka then earned two back-to-back points on her serve to win the match, winning her first Indian Wells title in her third final appearance. After the tournament they were ranked No.1 and No.2 in the WTA rankings.
They met again in the semifinals of Miami Open where Sabalenka defeated Rybakina 6–4, 6–3 en route to winning the Sunshine Double.
Starting from French Open, Rybakina was in contention to overtake Sabalenka from World no. 1. However she has early exits in both the French Open and Wimbledon and also retired in the quarterfinal of Cincinnati Open thus failing to overtake her. Finally, at the US Open, she reached the semifinals and ended Sabalenka's streak of being world no.1 at 99 consecutive weeks.
They met for the fourth time in the year in the final of US Open.Sabalenka and Rybakina also became the first pair of women's singles players to contest both hardcourt major finals in the same year since Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1994. This was also the first US Open final contested by the top two seeds since 2013. They were also the first pair since Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber in 2016 to compete in multiple major finals in a year. Rybakina broke in the fifth game to take the lead, eventually winning the first set. In the second set, Sabalenka broke Rybakina in the last game of the set to win it 7–5. Rybakina broke Sabalenka to take early 2–1 lead in final set which she consolidated with another break to make it 5–2. Rybakina double faulted on her first match point but served an ace on her second to win the title. She ended Sabalenka's 19-match US Open winning streak to win the third major title of her career and her first US Open title, becoming the third player in 21st century after Angelique Kerber and Sabalenka to win both Australian Open and US Open in the same year.
Head-to-head matches +Record by tierLegendRybakinaSabalenkaGrand Slam22WTA Finals21WTA 100035WTA 50012WTA 25000Total810+Record by surfaceSurfaceRybakinaSabalenkaHard87Grass02Clay01Total810
Singles (18) Rybakina 8 – Sabalenka 10 No.YearTournamentTierSurfaceRoundWinnerScoreLengthSetsRybakinaSabalenka12019Wuhan OpenWTA Premier 5Hard QuarterfinalsSabalenka6–3, 1–6, 6–31:411–20122021Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis OpenWTA 500HardQuarterfinalsSabalenka6–4, 4–6, 6–31:582–40232021Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrand SlamGrassRound of 16Sabalenka6–3, 4–6, 6–31:493–60342023Australian OpenGrand SlamHardFinalSabalenka4–6, 6–3, 6–42:284–80452023Indian Wells OpenWTA 1000HardFinalRybakina7–6(13–11), 6–42:036–81462023China OpenWTA 1000HardQuarterfinalsRybakina7–5, 6–21:348–82472023WTA FinalsWTA FinalsHardRound RobinSabalenka6–2, 3–6, 6–32:279–102582024Brisbane InternationalWTA 500HardFinalRybakina6–0, 6–31:1311–103592024Madrid OpenWTA 1000ClaySemifinalsSabalenka1–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–5)2:1712–1236102024WTA FinalsWTA FinalsHard (i)Round RobinRybakina6–4, 3–6, 6–11:4114–1346112025German OpenWTA 500GrassQuarterfinalsSabalenka7–6(8–6), 3–6, 7–6(8–6)2:4215–1547122025Cincinnati OpenWTA 1000HardQuarterfinalsRybakina6–1, 6–41:1517–1557132025Wuhan OpenWTA 1000HardQuarterfinalsSabalenka6–3, 6–31:2517–1758142025WTA FinalsWTA FinalsHard (i)FinalRybakina6–3, 7–6(7–0)1:4819–1768152026Australian OpenGrand SlamHardFinalRybakina6–4, 4–6, 6–42:1821–1878162026Indian Wells OpenWTA 1000HardFinalSabalenka3–6, 6–3, 7–6(8–6)2:3122–2079172026Miami OpenWTA 1000HardSemifinalsSabalenka6–4, 6–31:1922–22710182026US OpenGrand SlamHardFinalRybakina6–4, 5–7, 6–22:2124–23810
Performance timeline Titles Comparison +Titles by tierLegendRybakinaSabalenkaGrand Slam34WTA Finals10WTA Elite Trophy01WTA 1000211WTA 50066WTA 25022Total1424+Titles by surfaceSurfaceRybakinaSabalenkaHard821Clay53Grass10Total1424 +Titles by settingSurfaceRybakinaSabalenkaOutdoor1121Indoor33Total1424
Combined singles performance timeline (best result) Tournament2017201820192020202120222023202420252026SRGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenQ2S1RS3RS3RR4RS4RSWSWSFSWR3 / 9French OpenQ1S1RS2RS3RSQFR3R†SFSQF†FSQFS0 / 9Wimbledon2RS1RS1RSNHSFSWRSFSSFRSFS4RS1 / 9US OpenQ1S4RS2RS2R†SFSSFSFSWSWSWR3 / 9 † both have the same result
Completed set tallies RybakinaSet scoreSabalenka27–6417–5296–44 56–31226–2146–1016–0024Total sets23Total sets235Total games220Total games1,501Total Points1,457Total Points
WTA Rankings Year-end ranking timeline Player 2017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Elena Rybakina42519137191422465 Aryna Sabalenka 7811111025211
See also List of tennis rivalries Elena Rybakina career statistics Aryna Sabalenka career statistics
References
External links