Five things to know about fast-rising Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina just lost a nail-biting third-set tiebreaker in the Dubai final to top seed Simona Halep on Saturday. It's only February and the newest member of the Top 20 has appeared in four finals. She hits huge, and you'll be seeing a lot of her, so here are five things to know about the fast-rising 20-year-old.

1

She’s skyrocketed up the rankings. Exactly one year ago, Rybakina was ranked No. 192 in the world. Next week, the Kazakh will be firmly planted inside of the Top 20.

2

She’s actually Russian. In 2018, she switched her nationality from Russia to Kazakhstan in an effort to receive more funds and support from the national tennis federation. She’s not the first to make the switch: Alexander Bublik, Mikhail Kukushkin and Yulia Putintseva among others, have done the same.

3

Rybakina owns a 19-4 record so far in 2020, which includes wins this week over Sofia Kenin and Karolina Pliskova. She's made the final of every non-major tournament this season (advanced to third round at the Australian Open).

4

She’s deathly serious on the court. On Friday, Rybakina made her second straight WTA Premier final, and here’s how she celebrated:

5

The youngster is a big dog lover. The one common theme on Rybakina’s Instagram aside from winning tennis matches and earning trophies is canines.

Expect to see a lot more winning and rising from Rybakina this season.