Iga Swiatek at the top of the WTA Race rankings after her dominant win in the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
After an impressive win against Swiatek in the semi-finals, former Wimbledon champion Rybakina stormed to victory in the final against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
It wasn’t just her success in the indoor clay court event that cemented Rybakina’s position as a strong contender to challenge for this year’s French Open title, as the manner of her win caught the eye.
Her winning head-to-head record against Swiatek was extended to 4-2 after her win in Stuttgart and she had far too much power and precision for Kostyuk as she sealed a 6-2 6-2 win in the final.
When she is fit and firing, Rybakina looks hard to stop and this was her third title of 2024, moving her to within touching distance of Swiatek at the top of the WTA Race rankings.
This ranking looks at results from this year, with the top eight players at the end of the season qualifying for the end-of-season WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.
“I’m really happy with all the matches I played here throughout the week, especially in the final. Was very solid from me,” said Rybakina, as she looked back over her week in Stuttgart.
“I always believe in myself, of course, but it’s not only depends on me. There are a lot of great players, tough opponents
“But I know if I feel fresh, if I’m physically ready, healthy, I’m playing my game, of course, I have all the chances to win Grand Slam on any surface.”
Kostyuk suggested her muted performance was due, in part, to fatigue after some intense matches on her route to the final.
“I think 90% my tiredness played a role today. Every morning I didn’t know what to expect from myself on the court today, because really me being able to pull off this whole week and play an amazing tennis yesterday was something incredible and something I would never expect I can do.
“But today, you know, obviously I was very nervous. I wanted to win a lot this one, and yeah, I think there were a lot of things together. Yeah, I just couldn’t probably bear it anymore.
“Of course, it’s not like I was giving up at the end, but on the match points I was, like, you know you got to fight till the end, because what if she just falls now and she cannot get up and you win?
“But this is the only thing you can really do in these moments, because you can be delusional but to a certain point. I’m not that delusional yet to believe in something like this, yeah, because it was really a tough, tough week for me. You know, I had a very, very good player on the other side.
“Yeah, I was fighting, but I still, you know, I don’t feel like I believed in a miracle today.”
This win move Rybakina to within 142 points of Swiatek, who holds top place in the WTA Race and she will have a chance to move ahead of the Polish star by bettering her performance at the Madrid Open.
Kostyuk is also on the rise in the latest WTA Race list, as the world No 27 is up to No 7 on ranking points collected in 2024.
Other notable names in the upper echelons on the WTA Race rankings are Emma Navarro at No 13 (WTA ranking 21) and Great Britain’s Katie Boulter is up at No 21 in the WTA Race after her impressive start to this year.
Boulter’s compatriot Emma Raducanu is set for a big rankings rise on Monday after her run to the Stuttgart quarter-finals, as she is set to rise 82 places in the updated WTA list to No 221, with her WTA Race position of No 58 confirming she is making strides forward in 2024.