Elena Rybakina announces clay court schedule ahead of Roland Garros

Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images Elena Rybakina has been one of the stories of the 2026 season so far on the WTA Tour. Her strong results have pushed her past Iga Swiatek into world number two, just behind Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the rankings. Rybakina is also the only player to beat Sabalenka this year, having defeated her in three sets at the Australian Open final for her second career Grand Slam title.

She now sits around 3,000 points back from Sabalenka as she heads into clay season and has recently outlined her plans for that stretch of the calendar. Elena Rybakina’s clay court campaign: Where she’ll be playing Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images Rybakina’s clay court season is lined up with four tournaments, wrapping up with the French Open at Roland Garros. She’ll kick things off at the Stuttgart Open, which features all of the WTA Tour’s current top five players.

Rybakina has already had success there, having won the event back in 2024 by defeating Marta Kostyuk in the final. After Stuttgart, she’ll move on to two consecutive Masters events – first in Madrid and then in Rome. While she hasn’t won Madrid yet, she did claim her first Italian Open title in 2023, a victory that pushed her into the top five for the first time.

Following what will be a demanding run of tournaments, Rybakina will turn her attention to Roland Garros. She’ll be aiming to improve on her previous best finishes there after reaching two quarter-finals. Rybakina’s history on clay courts Throughout her career, Rybakina has claimed three clay court titles and made another final appearance in Strasbourg back in 2020.