Elena Rybakina reinforced her position at the top of the WTA rankings with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win over Leylah Fernandez in Sunday’s BNB Ningbo Open final, defending the WTA 500 crown she won on the Chinese hard courts a year ago.
Key takeaways
- World No. 1 Rybakina beat Canada’s Fernandez in 1 hour and 16 minutes without facing a service break.
- The Kazakh struck 24 winners and broke serve twice in each set of the final.
- It was her fourth trophy of 2026, more than any other player on the WTA Tour this season.
- Rybakina extended her Ningbo winning run to eight matches across two unbeaten tournament appearances.
- The victory was her 53rd tour-level match win of the year, ahead of Mirra Andreeva and Jessica Pegula, who each have 50.
A flawless return to Ningbo
Rybakina controlled the championship match from the baseline, repeatedly putting pressure on Fernandez’s delivery while keeping her own serve intact. She secured two breaks in the opening set and duplicated that return work in the second, closing the contest with her 24th winner.
The result gave Rybakina a third successive WTA-level victory over Fernandez and widened her overall head-to-head advantage to 4-2. It also made her the first player to successfully defend a singles title in her career.
“I’m very happy. Ningbo is already a special place for me,” Rybakina said after the final. “Last year, I began playing really well from this tournament onwards. Hopefully it gives me extra motivation and good energy to finish this season and begin the next one.”
She added that her level rose through the week: “I feel I improved with every match, and today was a very solid performance from me. I hope I can carry it on next week.”
Fourth title in a landmark season
The Ningbo trophy is Rybakina’s 15th career WTA singles title and her seventh at WTA 500 level. Nine of her tour-level singles trophies have been won on hard courts.
Her 2026 haul already includes major titles at the Australian Open and US Open, alongside the Stuttgart title on clay. Ningbo followed as her fourth championship of the campaign, setting the pace on the women’s tour.
Rybakina has now contested 28 tour-level finals. She has converted 11 of her most recent 15 championship-match appearances into titles, a sharp contrast to the frustration she recalls from earlier in her career.
“I remember being very upset because I was always losing finals, and now it’s going my way,” she said. “Of course, I can’t expect that every time. A final is a final, and there is an opponent who wants to win just as much as you do. I hope I can keep it going until the end of my career. For now it is working, and I’m really glad it is going my way.”
