Having qualified for the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the 24-year-old Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina has expressed her tiredness after the intense start to the season. In fact, her first two performances on the hard courts in Dubai were quite tough.
She lost a set both against Victoria Azarenka in the first round, before the Belarusian’s withdrawal, and against the Polish Magda Linette, against whom Rybakina prevailed with a score of 7-6(5) 3-6 6-4.
In the words reported by SuperTennis, the WTA world No.3 declared that she felt physically tired.
“I would say that I haven’t gotten used to these courts, yet. The automatic mechanisms are not yet in place: I still have to find the right timing. But I think that physically I’m a little tired. I’m happy to be able to win matches again but I also realize that my level is dropping a bit. I don’t know how much I can recover in this half day to be able to push,” explained the Kazakh, alluding to her next challenge against Jasmine Paolini.
Rybakina added: “Let’s see why it’s a big problem. Nobody expected me to play so many matches in the last two weeks. I think what I’ve done is already good: whatever happens this week I know there are more tournaments ahead. At the end of the day, I’m not a machine that can work the same way every day.”
Elena Rybakina© Christopher Pike / Stringer Getty Images Sport
Rybakina’s excellent start to the season
Rybakina is the tennis player who has won the most matches in 2024, 17, compared to only three defeats. Two titles won, in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi, the first of which conceded only three games in the final to Aryna Sabalenka.
She also played the final at the WTA 1000 in Doha, surrendering only to WTA world No.1 Iga Swiatek. The only misstep was her premature exit from the Australian Open, ending her run in the second round against Blinkova.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login