Elena Rybakina was angry. She expressed it in the way that was most comfortable for her.
“Thank you for changing the rules at the last minute,” Rybakina wrote on her Instagram Story last month, accompanied by a clapping emoji. “Great decision as always @wta.” She finished it off with a circus tent and clown face emoji.
Rybakina, who will debut at the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, on Sunday, arrived in Tokyo for the tournament as the third seed and hoping for a bye. This meant one less game to play and a few extra days of rest.
However, due to somewhat technical WTA rules, Maria Saccari and Caroline García, who had just reached the semi-finals of a tournament held in Guadalajara, Mexico and had to travel a long distance to start in Tokyo, were given a ‘Performance’ rating. hi.” This meant Rybakina no longer had a free pass to the second round.
Therefore, after the draw had already been made, Rybakina withdrew from the tournament. At the time she said it was due to her persistent illness, which had plagued her since the summer. (Rybakina declined to be interviewed for this article.)
This is not the first time Rivakina has been embroiled in controversy. After her semifinal victory over Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open last January, she defended her longtime coach Stefano Bukoff when he criticized her for yelling during the match.
“He is a passionate coach with a lot of knowledge about tennis,” Rybakina, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in three sets in the Australian final, wrote in the comments in an Instagram post. I answered. “Anyone who knows me well knows I will never accept a coach who doesn’t respect me and all of our hard work.”
Then, at a tournament in Montreal in August, Rybakina went on the offensive as persistent rain forced her quarterfinal match to start after 11 p.m. The match against Daria Kasatkina (which she ultimately won) didn’t end until 3 a.m. She then lost the semifinals and complained of a minor injury.
This type of complaint is unusual for 24-year-old Rybakina. Rybakina generally goes about her business at her court, rarely showing what she thinks and feels.
“Elena is very professional, very focused and in control of her emotions,” said her agent, Nicholas Tzekos. “You have to spend a lot of time with her to improve her quality. But when she smiles her smile it feels as if she is hugging her entire audience.”
Rybakina’s game is fueled by her 6-foot frame, incredible serve that reaches mid-120 mph, and a forehand that can deflect to the farthest corners of the court.
“Her serve is amazing,” said Billie Jean King, who will welcome Rivakina to the Billie Jean King Cup final in Seville, Spain, a few days after the WTA final. She said: “Her forehand is a little wonky at times, but she loves to play and believes in herself, so she will always be a threat.”
Rybakina took a big step forward last year when she defeated Ons Jabeur to win Wimbledon. Moscow-born Rybakina played for Russia, but decided to play for Kazakhstan instead in 2018. She won Wimbledon while competing for the Central Asian country.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus were banned from that year’s competition due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The WTA then decided not to award ranking points to Wimbledon. This means Rybakina missed out on the 2022 WTA Finals in Fort Worth, despite being one of the best players that season.
Rivakina, ranked 4th this year and seeded 4th in the finals, won two tournaments at the BNP Paribas Open held in Indian Wells by defeating the world’s second-ranked players, Iga Swatek and Sabalenka, and won the Internazionale BNL. occupied. D’Italia, Rome. With three wins over Swiatek and one over Sabalenka, she is one of only two WTA players since 2000 to have four wins over the world No. 1 in the same season.
The other was Serena Williams.
