Rybakina Pays the Price for Last Year's Ningbo Title
Elena Rybakina built an impressive cushion at the top of the WTA Live Rankings heading into the Wuhan Open, the final WTA 1000 event of the 2026 season. But a foot injury has kept the three-time Grand Slam champion out of the draw in Wuhan, and the timing is painful. Twelve months ago, Rybakina lifted the trophy at the Ningbo Open during this same week on the calendar, earning 500 ranking points. Under the WTA's rolling 52-week system, those points are now being removed, trimming her lead over Aryna Sabalenka from 2,211 points down to 1,711.
The schedule quirk is worth understanding. Because the 2025 Wuhan Open ran a week earlier than this year's edition, the points dropped this week actually come from the Ningbo Open and Japan Open rather than last year's Wuhan event. That technicality does not soften the blow for Rybakina, who can only watch from the sidelines.
Sabalenka and Others Positioned to Gain Ground
For Sabalenka, the situation could not be more favorable. She has zero points to defend this week, meaning every win in Wuhan translates directly into ranking gains. Should she claim the title, her deficit to Rybakina could shrink to just 711 points, setting up a thrilling end-of-season chase.
Coco Gauff is the defending Wuhan champion, but her 1,000 points from that run were already removed during the China Open, and she is skipping this year's tournament entirely. Meanwhile, Mirra Andreeva and Elina Svitolina each defend a modest 10 points from their 18th-best result, points both are expected to recover easily after receiving first-round byes as top-eight seeds.
TennisDraw users tracking the rankings race had Sabalenka as a popular pick to make a deep run in Wuhan this week.
