World No. 1 Elena Rybakina, fresh off her triumph at the 2026 US Open, has named her next career priority: winning the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, infohub.kz reports.
In New York, the Kazakhstani tennis player captured her third major title, defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final. Rybakina had previously won Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open in 2026. Of the four major tennis tournaments, she now lacks only the title on the clay courts of Paris.
"It would mean everything to me, because I think winning all four Grand Slams on different surfaces is a huge achievement. I don't know how many people have done it, but yes, Roland Garros is my next goal. That's what we'll be working on with the team. Over the next few years, we'll try to improve everything necessary to achieve it," Rybakina was quoted as saying by Punto de Break.
If Rybakina wins the French Open, she will join the ranks of female tennis players who have won each of the four Grand Slam tournaments at least once in their careers.
In the Open Era, seven women have achieved this feat: Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova. Sharapova was the last to complete a career Grand Slam, winning the French Open for the first time in 2012.
At the clay-court major, Rybakina has yet to advance past the quarterfinals. She has reached that stage twice, in 2021 and 2024. In 2021, the Kazakhstani player made her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal, defeating Serena Williams along the way.
Rybakina already has a major title on clay, having won the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome in 2023.
Recall that after the 2026 US Open, the 27-year-old Rybakina topped the WTA rankings for the first time.