Since sensationally winning Wimbledon in 2022 as a player outside the top twenty, the 26-year-old has always been at the top and competing for the biggest titles.
Although Rybakina has achieved some very notable things since then – such as winning the 2025 WTA Finals and reaching the 2023 Australian Open final – she still has one Grand Slam title in her collection.
At the end of 2025, Rybakina looked like perhaps the best player in the game. After winning the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo, the world number 5 also reached the Tokyo semi-finals before giving a walkover. Then the former world number 3 absolutely dominated in Riyadh, going 5-for-5 on his way to winning the WTA Finals. She won her last 11 games played of the 2025 season.
“Elena Rybakina presents herself as someone who is a No. 1 draft pick in the NBA. There are good draft picks who are all stars, and then there are people who are No. 1, and I’m not saying she’s going to have the career of these people, but they look different and feel different with what they bring,” the 2003 US Open champion said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
Roddick: Rybakina seems settled… She can definitely win a Grand Slam in 2026
If the 26-year-old Kazakh stays healthy in 2026, Roddick thinks she can definitely do great things.
“She finished the year strong. It looks like she can win a Major next year, hands down. She’s pretty easily at that top level skill-wise, I think. I couldn’t stop thinking about her game, so we’ll see what 2026 brings. But she’s got a five next to her name. Unless she misses months and months and months, and I think that’s the caveat we make with everything, she’ll be higher than that,” Roddick explained.
Rybakina kicks off her 2026 season at the Brisbane International, where she won the title in 2024.
Rybakina should not lack confidence at the start of 2026 and she is widely considered one of the top favorites for the Australian Open title.
#Andy #Roddick #compares #Elena #Rybakina #NBA #draft #pick #Slam #prediction