WTA Finals 2026: Rybakina Pulls Out Hours Before the Start, and Sabalenka's Path to a First Title Has Never Looked Clearer

Elena Rybakina has withdrawn from the WTA Finals with a viral illness. Sabalenka, twice a losing finalist, is the new favourite at the venue where she won in March. But four debutants have other plans.

The Defending Champion Is Out

Elena Rybakina was supposed to open the 2026 FAGE WTA Finals against Linda Noskova on Sunday afternoon at Indian Wells. Instead, the world No. 1 announced her withdrawal on Friday evening, citing a viral illness.

"I am really sad to inform all my fans and supporters that I unfortunately have to withdraw from the WTA Finals this year," Rybakina said.

And her season did, in fact, back up the claim. Rybakina won four titles: the Australian Open, Stuttgart, the US Open and Ningbo, finishing 54-14 and clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Last year in Riyadh, she won the WTA Finals without dropping a match, beating Sabalenka in the final. Today, she leaves behind 1,500 ranking points and a tournament reshaped by her absence.

Gauff vs Pegula prediction

Sabalenka Knows This Venue, and She Knows What Losing This Final Feels Like

Aryna Sabalenka has lost two WTA Finals championship matches. She fell to Caroline Garcia in 2022 and to Rybakina in 2025. Before the Indian Wells WTA 1000 final in March, she was direct about her frustration, saying "I'm so done of losing these big finals."

She then won that match, beating Rybakina 3-6 6-3 7-6(6) to complete the Sunshine Double, Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back.

Sabalenka became the fifth player in WTA history to win both in the same season. And her 2026 record stands at 47-11, boasting the highest win rate on tour (81%).

Now she returns to the same venue for the WTA Finals, and the player who beat her in last year's final is absent.

Sabalenka enters as the clear favourite, but faces a stacked Group 2.

The debutant, Andreeva, is 19 years old and is already flying high after winning Roland Garros this year as the youngest champion in Paris since Monica Seles in 1992. She brings 50 wins to Indian Wells, level with Pegula for the most in this field.

Svitolina, meanwhile, won the WTA Finals in 2018, holds a career 10-3 record at the event, and returns for the first time since 2019 after having a child. She won Rome this year, beating Rybakina and Swiatek on the way to her 20th career title.

As for Muchova, she reached the Wimbledon 2026 final and leads the head-to-head against Sabalenka 3-2. Any of the three could take a match off the second seed.

See also: Paris Masters predictions

Group 1: A Slam Champion at 21 and a Last-Minute Entry

Rybakina's exit has changed the shape of Group 1.

Noskova won Wimbledon at 21, beating Muchova 6-2 5-7 6-3 in an all-Czech final. She was the youngest champion at the All England Club since Petra Kvitova in 2011.

Pegula, at 32, is making her fifth straight WTA Finals appearance, the second-longest active streak behind Sabalenka's six. She has 50 wins this season, 19 of them decided in three sets, and won tennis titles on hard courts and clay.

The Generational Spread

Women’s tennis is in an interesting place at the moment:

• A 19-year-old Roland Garros champion and a 21-year-old Wimbledon champion are both making their WTA Finals debut.
• A 32-year-old with 50 wins is back for a fifth straight year.
• A 2018 champion is at the event for the first time in seven years after having a child.

All while the 27-year-old defending champion pulled out with hours to spare.

Day 1 opens Sunday with Kostyuk vs Noskova, followed by Gauff taking on Pegula (head-to-head tied at 5-5). Meanwhile, Group 2 begins Monday with Sabalenka facing Muchova, and Andreeva taking on Svitolina.

Tournament Details

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