Elena Rybakina: a diamond with some rough edges

In 2022, Elena Rybakina surprised everyone by winning the prestigious Wimbledon Championships, two and a half years after her last tournament victory. The tall tennis player (1.84 meters) defeated her Tunisian opponent Ons Jabeur in the final, winning her first Grand Slam tournament at the age of 23. For Rybakina , who was seeded 17th at that tournament, it marked the beginning of her true rise in the tennis world. Reason enough for Sjeng Sports to compile a few facts about tennis star Elena Rybakina for you.  

Name: Elena Rybakina  
Nationality: Kazakh 
Born on: June 17, 1999 
Tennis hand: Right 
Current WTA Ranking: 5   

Rybakina was born on June 17, 1999, in Moscow. She started playing tennis at the age of five and joined the international professional circuit in 2014. It was immediately apparent that Rybakina , who has been playing for Kazakhstan since 2018, possessed powerful strokes and a relatively hard serve as her strengths . After playing her first match on the WTA Tour in 2017, she won her first WTA title in 2019. In Bucharest, Romania, she defeated Patricia Maria Tig, giving Rybakina her first WTA trophy. While she burst into the top 50, a definitive breakthrough remained elusive.  

Like a rocket into the top ten  

Although Rybakina managed to reach the world's top twenty in 2020, partly thanks to a tournament victory in Hobart, Australia, she failed to win several titles in the remainder of 2020 and 2021. As a result, she dropped slightly in the WTA Ranking, but she reversed that trend in mid-2022. Rybakina , who had only competed at Wimbledon once prior to 2022, racked up victory after victory in London, and after defeating Simona in the semifinals, Halep also had to overcome Jabeur in the final . This completed the upset, and Rybakina 's tennis dream – winning a Grand Slam – became a reality. She immediately jumped to fourth place in the WTA rankings, and a bright future lay ahead for the Kazakh.  

This time, Rybakina managed to continue her rise, and with victories at prestigious tournaments like Indian Wells and the Rome Tour, both WTA 1000 tournaments, she reached the world number three ranking in June 2023. Although her form was good, injuries began to plague her from that point on. Towards the end of the year, she struggled with health issues, which ultimately prevented her from winning more titles. However, she more than compensated for this when she regained her fitness in early 2024.  

Three titles in a few months  

Before the 2024 tennis season had even begun, Rybakina had already won her first title. Rybakina played a very convincing tournament in Brisbane, losing only fifteen (!) games in five matches, thus launching a successful season. After Brisbane, Rybakina also secured victories in Abu Dhabi (hard court) and Stuttgart (clay court), confirming her as a major competitor for Iga. Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka , the leading player at the time. It was therefore unfortunate for Rybakina that she again faced health problems midway through the season. A back injury and an infection, among other things, forced her to withdraw from several tournaments, including the Olympic Games and the US Open.  

Promising career ahead  

Rybakina is now fit again and is playing with Goran Ivanisevic – former coach of Novak Djokovic – as a coach, she hopes to quickly string together another string of WTA titles. One thing is certain: with her impressive play and determination, Elena Rybakina has established herself at the top of women's tennis, and there's a good chance she'll remain among them for years to come. Will she win Wimbledon again and also take home a title at one of the other Grand Slams ? Time will tell!