Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan has secured the year-end world No. 1 ranking at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, while former champion Naomi Osaka was eliminated in the second round by Slovakia's Mia Pohankova on Thursday.
Rybakina's achievement comes after her recent appearance at the China Open in Beijing on October 3, where she competed in a second-round match against Armenia's Alina Charaeva. The Pan Pacific Open result confirms her position at the top of the WTA rankings for the remainder of the 2026 season.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, fell to Pohankova in a match that lasted just over an hour. The Slovak qualifier celebrated her first career win over a top-10 player, advancing to the quarterfinals.
