APersonIndependent states
Elena Rybakina
Tennis player (b. 1999), winner of three Grand Slam titles and world No. 1 — a first for Kazakhstan.
Elena Rybakina was born in Moscow and has represented Kazakhstan since 2018. She is known for her powerful serve and hard-hitting groundstrokes.
Winning Wimbledon in 2022, she became the first Kazakhstani player to win a Grand Slam title, and she won the WTA Finals in 2025.
In 2026 she won the Australian Open and the US Open and rose to world No. 1. She has done much to boost interest in tennis in Kazakhstan.
Sources
Updated: October 2, 2026