Indian Wells Winner Elena Rybakina Climbs to Career-high Ranking

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posted on 1 year ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Elena Rybakina said she was targeting the world number one ranking after capturing the Indian Wells crown

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina moved up three places to a career-high ranking of seventh on Monday after winning the prestigious Indian Wells title.

The Kazakh star beat Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday’s final to avenge her defeat by the Belarusian earlier this year in the Melbourne showpiece.

“I think the biggest goal is of course to be number one,” Rybakina said. “There’s still long way to go. So this is the end goal, I’d say.

“For now, I’m seven, but you know how quickly the rankings change. So I need to always focus on the next tournament I play. I’m just trying not to think so much about the rankings.”

“I didn’t think about this, but good stat,” said Rybakina, who picked up her fourth career title.

“I don’t know what to say. When I come to play against anyone, I try not to think about the rankings.

“I just want to do my best. Yeah, in the end, try to win.”

She would be higher in the standings if Wimbledon had not been stripped of its ranking points last year for banning Russian and Belarusian players.

“I think this will be my dream tonight. It’s going to be in my head till tomorrow, because there were so many points where I could play better and handle myself better,” Sabalenka said.

“Especially when serving for the set, there’s no pressure on me so why would I go for bigger serves. Just serve to the body and play the point. I was over-hitting.

“This is another lesson and that’s okay. I have nothing against that. I’ll learn and come back better.”

Iga Swiatek retains a commanding lead as world number one, despite failing to win a second straight Indian Wells title after a semi-final loss to Rybakina.