Elena Rybakina showed that the 2022 title at Wimbledon was not by chance, proof of that was the final at the 2023 Australian Open.
Following her win at Wimbledon, she was denied 2000 ranking points because the Grand Slam was penalised for preventing Russian and Belarusian players due to the war in Ukraine.
“Of course, Wimbledon was a great result but you have these doubts, like, maybe it was just luck, or it was a really good draw or something. So you have kind of these thoughts,” Rybakina said.
Rybakina was something of a surprise Wimbledon champion last year, defeating two former Grand Slam champions in Bianca Andreescu and Simona Halep en route to the final where she overcame Jabeur from a set down to lift her third and biggest career title.
“There are times when you don’t play the way you’d like to play, you don’t get the results you expect and then doubts come. In this case, planning after Wimbledon was complicated because I didn’t have the points that belonged to me.” Rybakina said.
“I wanted to qualify for the WTA Finals, so I was forced to play in many tournaments. After Wimbledon things happened and it wasn’t easy to play all those tournaments.
“My preparation for the hard court tournaments was interrupted. But in the end, it ends up giving you experience. Every week that goes by on the circuit, something happens that makes you learn about yourself.” she added.
Rybakina entered the top 10 singles world rankings after her run to the Australian Open final in January.
“Now I can have much better planning. If I’m in the top 10 it’s easier to plan. Sometimes you have the advantage of not playing the first few rounds, which gives you a few extra days to train. If you are travelling, this helps a lot.” Rybakina said.
“I want to say thank you to my team for the great job that we’ve done during the pre-season and over the past 3-4 years. Thank you to my coach, my family, sponsors.” she added.
