She made history this Saturday, by putting her name on the Wimbledon list after winning in three sets against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, world No. 2 (3-6, 6-2 , 6-2). The Kazakh Elena Rybakina, 23, 23rd in the standings, barely smiled on a last backhand fault from her opponent No doubt she was struggling to realize the magnitude of her performance. And yet, she is the sensation of this London tournament. ” I did not know what to do. I was in shock. I knew deep down that I could do it, she conceded once her senses were recovered. But at the same time, it was too many emotions. I was just trying to stay calm. Here are three things you should know about the Muscovite.
She was born Russian
In the absence of Russian and Belarusian players, deprived of the 2022 edition of Wimbledon by decision of the British authorities after the invasion of Ukraine, there was nevertheless a player trained in Russia in the final.
Born 23 years ago in Moscow, she started playing tennis in clubs in the Russian capital and was even trained by one of the pioneers of the discipline in the USSR Andrey Chesnokov, before becoming N.3 world in juniors. As she began to make a name for herself on the circuit, she took Kazakh nationality in 2018, attracted by the financial support of the extremely wealthy local federation chaired for a long time by Bulat Utemuratov, whose personal fortune is estimated at 3.5 billion dollars according to Forbes magazine.
If his past and his Russian ties resurfaced in the particular context of this 2022 edition of Wimbledon, Rybakina quickly evacuated the subject. “I have been playing for Kazakhstan for a long time. I am really happy to represent this country,” she said after her success in the semi-final against Simona Halep. The president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev, also hailed this victory on Saturday. ” It’s amazing ! Well done Rybakina! We won the Wimbledon tournament, ”he reacted, quoted by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti. Something to cringe even if Rybakina is not the only Kazakh on the international circuit to have Russian origins. Yulia Putintseva, currently 33rd in the world, quarter-finalist at Roland-Garros in 2016 and 2018, then at the US Open 2020, was also born in Moscow.
His 3rd career title
Before her London feat, the Kazakh presented a very thin CV which included only two WTA singles tournaments for six finals played. She won the first, in 2019, at the Bucharest Open. Then aged 20, she had taken just over an hour to take the measure of the Romanian Patricia Maria Tig in the final (6-2, 6-0). She then won her second title in 2020, at the Hobart Open in Australia at the expense of Chinese Zhang Shuai (7-6, 6-3).
In the Majors, her best performance before Wimbledon dated from 2021. The tall right-hander (1m83) had then reached the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros. She had even beaten Serena Williams in the round of 16 before losing her flag to the… Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The 4th worst ranked
Coached by the Croatian, Stefano Vukov (1122nd at the ATP in 2007), Elena Rybakina, who emerges in 23rd place, was the fourth lowest ranked player to reach the Wimbledon final since the creation of the WTA ranking in 1975 The other three? Serena Williams (181st in the world in 2018), Venus Williams (31st in 2007) and Sabine Lisicki (24th in 2013). Only the eldest of the Williams had then imposed herself by beating, 15 years ago, the Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.
The Kazakh, who in her younger years also practiced gymnastics and skating, with her sister, will, from Monday, make a leap in the rankings. For the record, she had reached the place of world number 12, in January 2022, after her second round at the Australian Open. His highest WTA ranking to date.