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Kazakh tennis star Elena Rybakina has reached a new milestone in her professional career. She has climbed to the No. 3 spot in the WTA singles rankings, the highest-ever for a player from her country.
Rybakina, who was born in Moscow but has represented Kazakhstan since 2018, has been one of the most consistent and impressive performers on the WTA Tour in the past few years.
She has won five singles titles, including the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Rome in 2023, and Wimbledon 2022. She also reached the final of the Australian Open and the Miami Open this year, losing to Aryna Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova respectively.
Rybakina posted a picture on her Instagram stories on Tuesday, June 13 to commemorate her achievement.
Rybakina has also achieved remarkable results in doubles events, including reaching the final of Adelaide International in 2023 with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
She has many top-10 wins in her career, including victories over former and current No. 1 players such as Iga Swiatek, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza, and Serena Williams.
Elena Rybakina eyes her grasscourt campaign after French Open withdrawal
Elena Rybakina, the World No. 3 and reigning Wimbledon champion, had to withdraw from the 2023 French Open due to a respiratory illness.
Rybakina was one of the main contenders for the title at Roland Garros, having shown impressive form on clay and hardcourts this season.
The 23-year-old Kazakh player also won her opening two matches at the French Open in straight sets, beating Brenda Fruhvirtova and Linda Noskova without much trouble. However, she announced her withdrawal shortly before her third-round match against Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, who received a walkover into the fourth round.
Rybakina said she had been feeling unwell for two days, and had symptoms like fever, headache, and difficulty breathing. She said she tried to warm up but realized she was not able to play at her best level.
"I was not feeling good already the day before, so I did not sleep tonight and had some fever, and today I really tried on the warm-up, and I feel the right decision is to withdraw because it’s really tough to play with these conditions," Elena Rybakina said.
Rybakina will now head directly into the grasscourt season as the new World No. 3, where she will look forward to defending her Wimbledon title. Rybakina, also said that her main priority was to get back to full fitness.
“For now, focus for sure to get better," she said in a recent press conference. “But the plan was to play Berlin, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon. There are not many tournaments on grass, but most important to get healthy again. Yeah, that was the plan.”
