A few months into the 2020 season, one of the more shocking developments was Elena Rybakina’s ascent. After sneakily climbing the ranks the previous season, she quickly became impossible to ignore. Her victories piled up in tournament after tournament, and as she crushed serves and pounded groundstrokes off both wings, she appeared destined to continue.
Instead, the epidemic struck, and when Rybakina resumed her trip, she struggled to find her way. As she patiently anticipated a breakthrough, her ephemeral instances of excellence were followed by frustration. Finally, it has arrived.
Rybakina has finally reached the pinnacle of her sport after two weeks during which her shape and self-assurance significantly improved.
Rybakina defeated Ons Jabeur, the third seed, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to win Wimbledon.
The 23-year-old is the first Kazakh player to win a singles grand slam. Born in Russia, she changed her nationality to Kazakhstan in 2018 when the national federation offered her financial assistance. The Duchess of Cambridge was present for the trophy presentation.
It is ironic that after the All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian players from the event due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the tournament was won by the best Russia-born talent of the new generation.
However, her success reflects poorly on the Russian tennis system, which has lost several talented players to Kazakhstan due to a lack of finance, while the majority of its top players train abroad.
Jabeur, the first Arab player and African woman to reach a grand slam single final in the Open era, was aiming to disrupt Rybakina with her sophisticated, varied style.
She drew out the rallies, forcing Rybakina to stoop in response to her slices, and blasted Rybakina with drop shots.
Jabeur broke serve for a 2-1 lead before dominating her service games to win the set.
The momentum switched dramatically at the start of the second set. Jabeur began the match with a sequence of unforced errors on his serve, resulting in a breakpoint for his opponent.
Rybakina quickly began to play on her terms, intimidating Jabeur from the baseline, and the Tunisian got excessively tense herself. Jabeur struggled to hit through the ball and assert herself in the match, and when she did attempt to unleash her forehand, she committed multiple errors. In the end, Jabeur was too reliant on her dexterity and too predictable.
After Rybakina won the second set, the audience attempted to energize Jabeur, and while she trailed 2-3, she generated three break points at 0-40 with a magnificent lob. With her back against the wall, Rybakina delivered four first serves in five points at speeds of 117 mph or higher and with perfect freedom. She saved every break point, maintained her serve, and never looked back as she won her first grand slam.
Even after her best victory, Rybakina’s composure has been her signature in her brief stint on the tour. Rybakina was as unassuming as ever as she attained the childhood ambitions for which she had labored her entire life, a grin scarcely flickering across her face after match point.
She felt everything: “I was quite nervous before the competition, during the match, and I’m honestly relieved that it’s over,” she added. Because I’ve never felt anything like this before.
This year there are no ranking points available, thus Rybakina will slip to 23rd place, even though under normal conditions she would have moved to a new rating of approximately sixth. However, this is a valuable triumph, and she has made the jump.
After reaching the semifinals of the French Open and the Olympics on clay and hardcourt last year, Rybakina has demonstrated that she possesses the tools and attitude to win additional grand slam championships and compete on all surfaces.
As she digested her victory, she had a special message for her defeated opponent, Jabeur. She stated, “I believe you are an inspiration not only for the juniors but for everyone.”
“Your game is incredible, and I don’t believe we have anyone like you on tour. It was a pleasure to compete against you. I have jogged so much today that I no longer feel the need to exercise.”
Even in a career that seems to uncover fresh firsts for her region and continent every week, this was a remarkable week for Jabeur, even though it concluded with a crushing setback.
Since people laughed at her nine-year-old self when she declared her goal to win grand slams, her accomplishments have been the consequence of a slow progression. Jabeur, now ranked No. 2 and a grand slam finalist at age 27, has taken another step ahead and has positioned herself to return to this road.
