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
• The ​27-year-old, who rose to world number one for the first time en route to winning the US Open last month, needed only one ​more victory this year to ensure that world number ​two Aryna Sabalenka could not overtake her
• Rybakina is enjoying a marquee year ‌with ⁠wins at the Australian Open and US Open to take her Grand Slam tally to three, after winning Wimbledon four years ago
• Rybakina next faces Leylah Fernandez in a rematch ​of their Ningbo ​final, after ⁠the Canadian beat Elise Mertens 6-2 7-6(8)
• Rybakina endured a brief dip after her US Open ​triumph, losing her opening match in Beijing ​and missing ⁠the Wuhan Open due to a leg injury, before defending her title in Ningbo
• She is targeting a 16th career title ⁠before ​heading to Indian Wells, California, for ​the WTA Finals, where the season's top eight players will compete from 8-15 November.