Rybakina Clinches Year-end Top Ranking with Tokyo Second-round Win
Elena Rybakina beat fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-2 6-3 in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Thursday to secure the year-end world number one ranking for the first time, more than a week before the season-ending WTA Finals. Rybakina received a bye into the last 16 of the WTA 500 event in Tokyo and arrived at the Ariake Coliseum after capturing her fourth title of the season and first as the top-ranked player at last week's Ningbo Open in China.
