World No. 2 Elena Rybakina has been on a relentless run, juggling back-to-back tournaments on the WTA Tour. Since lifting the Australian Open trophy in January, she hasn’t taken a breather and is now set to play her fifth consecutive event in Miami.

However, the packed schedule has started to take a toll. She was forced to retire mid-match during the Dubai Tennis Championships Round of 16 clash against Antonia Ruzic, pulling out in the third set due to exhaustion.

Now, speaking ahead of her opening match at Hard Rock Stadium, Rybakina gave her honest perspective on the WTA schedule. 

“Well, it’s not busy. I wasn’t really fresh after Australia. I got also a bit sick and I wanted to keep the momentum, so I went to play in Doha, and I think I played a couple of good matches there. Then, unfortunately, I couldn’t recover and be 100% for Dubai tournament. I was home, so I really wanted to play, but the body just didn’t let me to recover,” Rybakina said.

The stretch from Melbourne to Doha to Dubai to Indian Wells and then Miami is as demanding as it gets, an intense run of top-tier tournaments with barely any time to recover.

For Elena Rybakina, who was already carrying the fatigue of a deep Grand Slam run, the withdrawal in Dubai felt almost inevitable. Her body simply couldn’t keep up with the relentless pace of the WTA calendar.

In hindsight, though, that break may have been exactly what she needed, helping her reset and come back stronger at Indian Wells.

“The schedule we have, it’s quite brutal, but I’m happy that I managed to get to my best form in Indian Wells in a big tournament, important one. Just last push now here in Miami. Hopefully, I will do good here again. After, I will have more time to rest,” she added.

However, Rybakina isn’t the only one raising concerns about the demanding calendar. Last month, both World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and World No. 3 Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships under similar circumstances.

Sabalenka cited minor injuries and the need for a break, while Swiatek admitted she wasn’t in the right mental space to compete, further highlighting the toll of the relentless schedule.

These withdrawals caused a row of public wrangles with Dubai tournament director Salah Tahlak, who demanded more severe penalties, such as ranking points deductions. Responding to this, Sabalenka even hinted that she might skip the Dubai Tennis Championships going forward.

Now, the juggernaut moves to the Miami Open, where almost all the top players are participating. 

Rybakina comes to the Miami Open as a two-time runner-up, losing to Petra Kvitova in 2023 and Danielle Collins in 2024. The Kazakh is up against a fellow country player, Yulia Putintseva, in the round of 64. And given her winning form, it seems like the World No. 2 is in for another deep run at Hard Rock Stadium.

Elena Rybakina’s dominant run since last year’s Wimbledon

The two-time Grand Slam champion has not looked back after the 2025 Wimbledon championships. Elena Rybakina recorded the most wins on tour by any player since then. 

“I think we put a lot of work with the team and all the things clicked together. We’re still trying to improve a lot of things to work on, but for now I’m happy,” Rybakina said.

On March 16, she dethroned Iga Swiatek to become the new world No. 2 in the WTA live rankings. Post-Wimbledon 2025, her win-loss record came out to be 34-8, which is the most successful stretch of her career. With het dominant wins at the WTA finals and the Australian Open, she looks unstoppable with her booming serve. 

The gap between Sabalenka and Rybakina is still 4000 points, but the latter is closing in on it. The last three top-tier finals, now played by both players, the WTA Finals, the Australian Open, and Indian Wells, have all been won by one of the two players. The competition that marks women’s games in 2026 is not dead yet, and as the draw sees both of them in the same half at Miami, it is clear a fourth final encounter is on the cards.