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Elena Rybakina has cemented herself as one of the top players of her generation thanks to a slew of impressive performances since last year. She claimed her maiden Major title at the 2022 Wimbledon and finished as the runner-up at this year's Australian Open.
Rybakina also won a couple of WTA 1000 titles this season and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 3. Results like this do allow top players a certain amount of leeway and favoritism, but that hasn't been the case for the Kazakh since her rise to the top.
Rybakina has gotten the short end of the stick a few times. For a player of her stature, that's quite rare. While she's known for her calm and steely demeanor on the court, the 24-year old isn't afraid to raise her voice after being on the receiving end of mistreatment.
On that note, here are three instances when Elena Rybakina spoke up after being shafted by the tournament organizers and the WTA:
#1 - "I feel like I'm not really the champion" - Elena Rybakina on the US Open's decision to allot her an outside court
Rybakina's moment of triumph at last year's Wimbledon was overshadowed by controversies. The All England Club barred Russian and Belarusian players from competing due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The WTA and ATP retaliated by not awarding any ranking points for the tournament.
Winning a Major title awards 2000 points to the victor, so Rybakina would've cracked the top 10 following her victory. However, since no points were allocated, she was still seeded 25th by the time the US Open came around.
Rybakina's first round match was scheduled on Court 12, which is one of the smaller courts at the US Open. A reigning Wimbledon champion being relegated to an obscure corner at the venue was a puzzling decision and the Kazakh spoke about the same.
"It was my dream to win at Wimbledon. That's a shame. I feel like I'm not really the champion. I don't think that's fair. I'm not just talking about myself, but in general I think with all these decisions a lot of players are paying the price." - Elena Rybakina on her US Open court allotment.
Rybakina's challenged ended in the first round itself as she suffered a shock defeat to Clara Burel.
#2 - "The leadership is a little bit weak for now" - Elena Rybakina calls out the WTA after her late night finish at the Canadian Open
This year's Canadian Open scheduling left quite a few players fuming and Rybakina was one of them. She survived a tough challenge from Daria Kasatkina in quarterfinals and scored a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(8) victory over her after a three-hour-27-minute-long battle.
The match ended around 3 am and Rybakina felt completely spent after such a late finish.
"I am destroyed guys! But thank you so much for everyone who stayed so late. It’s really amazing that you supported us." - Elena Rybakina during her on-court interview.
However, Rybakina took a much sterner stance during her post match conference regarding the scheduling snafu. The 24-year in particular chided the WTA for not taking the lead in such matters and felt it was unprofessional on their part.
"It’s the first time when the match went that long and we finished also so late. It’s the first time and hopefully the last time because I think it’s been a little bit unprofessional from the, I cannot say really the tournament because I think that the most important is the WTA here, and the leadership is a little bit weak for now," she said in her post-match press conference.
Rybakina then lost to Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals. The tournament left her completely drained, and she was unable to finish her campaign in Cincinnati the following week as she was forced to retire from her third round match.
#3 - Elena Rybakina miffed with the WTA following last minute rule changes
Depending on the size of the draw, at least four top players usually get a first-round bye in WTA 500 tournaments. Rybakina, who's currently in Tokyo for the Pan Pacific Open, was expected to get one as the third seed.
However, Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia, two players ranked lower than her, ended up being the beneficiaries of the same instead of Rybakina. The two made a deep run at last week's Guadalajara Open, with the Greek winning the title and the Frenchman bowing out in the semifinals.
The WTA felt it was appropriate to hand Sakkari and Garcia byes, especially considering the travel time involved to reach Tokyo from Guadalajara. Performance byes have been a thing in the past as well, but players are generally informed beforehand regarding it.
It doesn't look like that was the case this time and Rybakina took to Instagram to express her displeasure at the WTA.
"Performance bye. Thank you for changing the rules last moment. Great decisions as always @wta." - Elena Rybakina on the WTA's latest move.
Rybakina will take on Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the first round on Tuesday. The Kazakh won their previous encounter at this year's French Open in straight sets.
