"I've been struggling with sleep" - Elena Rybakina reveals health concerns heading into French Open second week

Elena Rybakina opened up about her sleeping difficulties and their harmful after-effects on her recovery at her third-round post-match press conference at the 2024 French Open. The Kazakh saw off Elise Mertens in just an hour and seven minutes to place herself in the fourth round.

Rybakina has been on a roll this year, and the Roland Garros has been no different. The fourth seed kicked things off with a comfortable win against Greet Minnen and followed it up with another routine win against the veteran Arantxa Rus. She then faced 25th seed Elise Mertens, but the Belgian didn't prove to be much of a threat either as Rybakina blitzed past her 6-4, 6-2.

Though tennis hasn't been an issue for the 24-year-old, who has been in sublime form, she has faced a lot of health issues that have led her to withdraw from many tournaments. She had also withdrawn from Roland Garros last year due to illness and stated that she had been struggling with sleep.

During her post-match press conference, Elena Rybakina was asked if she was currently feeling healthy considering her recent run of illnesses, to which she revealed that though she had been struggling with sleep and allergy issues prior, she was feeling healthy now.

“Yes, I mean, I have struggling a bit with the sleep. I had some issues so, of course, I had to skip tournaments, also allergies, and everything, and now I'm feeling pretty well and focused,” she said.

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"I think as everybody when they work a lot, it's not easy to sleep" - Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina was further asked about her sleep problems following which she elaborated on how working hard makes it difficult to sleep, which in turn harmed her recovery.

"Just I think as everybody, when they work a lot, it's not easy to sleep and in the end, the recovery is not the greatest and I think it's quite generous," she stated.

The Kazakh was also asked if she was working with a special team rather than her medical team to tackle this issue.

"Well guys I think everybody faces some issues, it can be anything, so I don’t know what to answer more than that," Sabalenka said.

Elena Rybakina will play 15th seed Elina Svitolina in the fourth round. This will be the fourth meeting between the two women, with the Ukrainian leading their head-to-head battle 2-1.