Former World No.1 Predicts Whether Elena Rybakina Will Win a Grand Slam in 2026

Elena Rybakina finished the 2025 season in brilliant form after claiming the Ningbo Open and the WTA Finals. She will be eager to take a step higher in 2026 by winning Grand Slam titles. Former World No.1 Andy Roddick has tipped her to win her second career major title this season in any of the four Slams.

Rybakina made her Grand Slam debut in 2018, but had to wait for four years to win her first major title at the Wimbledon Championship. The 26-year-old then reached the final of the Australian Open in 2023, less than a year later. Since then, she has not been able to get to those heights or claim a second Grand Slam.

She endured a challenging Grand Slam campaign in 2025, failing to reach the quarter-finals of any major event. She lost to eventual champion Madison Keys in the fourth round of the Australian Open and at the French Open fell to Iga Swiatek in the same round. At Wimbledon, she shockingly lost to Clara Tauson in the third round and went on to lose to Marketa Vondrousova in the fourth round of the US Open.

However, several pundits and former players have analyzed that Rybakina’s struggle on the court was due to her coaching situation. It was after Stefano Vukov was reinstated to his position as Rybakina’s coach following suspension that she began to perform better on the court and produce consistent results.

During a conversation on the Served podcast, Andy Roddick noted that the form Rybakina showed towards the end of the season was remarkable and will propel her to go for more silverware in 2026. He added that he believes she will win one of the four Grand Slams next season:

She finished the year strongly. Seems settled. I think she can win a major next year, no doubt. She is in that upper tier as far as ability goes, pretty easily, I think. I could not think more of her game, so we will see what 2026 brings. But she has a five next to her name. Barring missing months and months and months, and I feel that is the caveat we do with everything, she is going to be higher than that.

Rybakina was the last player to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November after toppling Mirra Andreeva in the rankings. The Kazakhstan star won the Ningbo Open and went on to reach the semi-finals of the Japan Open to ensure she sealed her place at the tournament. Surprisingly, despite her late entry, she went on to win the title.

Andy Roddick gives an interesting observation about Elena Rybakina’s potential

Elena Rybakina didn’t begin 2025 the way tennis fans hoped. She was drawn to her coaching situation after rehiring Stefano Vukov, who was alleged to have breached the WTA code of conduct. Vukov was suspended in January, but was later reinstated after a successful appeal in August 2025.

During the aforementioned conversation, Andy Roddick made an interesting observation about Rybakina. The former American player linked her to the NBA draft, stating that the Kazakhstan star has what it takes to be among players in the first draft:

She is 6ft 2 inches, her serve is huge. The problems we talk about are rarely about her game. Maybe she was banged up, maybe it was off the court. She feels like a number one draft pick. Where it’s like out of this draft class, Rybakina is being drafted one, who is the rest? You look at [Aryna] Sabalenka, [Iga] Swiatek, and [Coco] Gauff, and Rybakina is that person, in my opinion.

Rybakina will open her 2026 campaign at the Brisbane International, which starts on January 4. The former champion will be up against a host of stars such as Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys, Mirra Andreeva, and Amanda Anisimova as she seeks to win the WTA 500 title ahead of the Australian Open.

Also Read: Nick Kyrgios Roasts Alexander Bublik Following Criticism on Battle of the Sexes Match

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