LONDON – Even Elena Rybakina did not expect to win Wimbledon this year. She didn’t even find herself reaching week two.
She knows she’s focused on her work and has long-term dreams for herself, but she’s unhappy with her pre-tournament preparation and has recently struggled with an injury. Rybakina, 23, did not have many expectations for herself when she started competing in the tournament.
But match by match, against opponents like Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu, both are major champions, Rybakina has proven herself capable. And on Saturday, Rybakina stunned the world – and even herself – with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback victory over Ons Jabeur on Center Court for the first major title of her career.
After winning the final point when Jabeur’s backhand went out of bounds, Rybakina, who was normally reserved, puffed her cheeks and shook her head, seemingly in disbelief. She just smiled after shaking hands with Jabeur and the referee.
“I was really speechless,” Rybakina said in court shortly after. “Being a winner is amazing, I have no words to say how happy I am.”
How did Rybakina win on Saturday and what does that mean for her going forward? These are the things that matter to us.
The moment Elena Rybakina became the Wimbledon champion #Wimbledon | # CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/gVCU9oqxx5
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
Serve that ball
Going into the match, Rybakina had 49 aces – 19 more than any woman – and averaging 8.2 per game. Not to mention, she has the second-fastest serve among the women at 122 mph (second only to Coco Gauff124 mph). It has been the dominant and almost unstoppable asset for Rybakina for the past two weeks. But in Saturday’s opening set, Jabeur nullified that entirely – and Rybakina failed to score an ace in the first set of all tournaments.
But that dominance did not last. Rybakina rediscovered her serve – and form, and comprehensiveness – in the second set. In the final game of the set, she took every point on her serve, and ended the set with an ace. In the end, she had four aces for the day, including one that hit 117 mph in the final bout of the match and, perhaps most impressively, didn’t break again.
Fighting spirit
Never showing much emotion in court, Rybakina remained calm and composed despite the lack of crowds on her side and Jabeur’s early control. If she is enchanted, it will never show. When she returned to the court in the second set, she looked like a new player – with answers to everything Jabeur sent her way.
It was an amazing change, and she never allowed Jabeur a chance to get back into the match and almost completely silenced the crowd in the process. The unappreciated Rybakina never shouted “come on” or “let’s go,” or even flashed a suggestive smile, and seemed clinically focused on the next point.
While Jabeur made some consequential errors during the long haul, Rybakina never took his foot off the accelerator.
Forever a part of Wimbledon history.#Wimbledon | # CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/e9nDLrstli
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
History maker
Currently ranked 23rd, Rybakina becomes the first woman ranked outside the WTA top 20 to win Wimbledon since Venus Williams in 2007. And she became the first woman to win the All England Club after losing the first set since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006, and is the youngest woman to win the title since Petra Kvitova In 2011.
Rybakina was the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach a major final, but now she is also the first to take home the championship trophy. While the achievement is a feat for the Central Asian nation, Rybakina’s nationality has come under scrutiny over the past two weeks. Born and raised in Russia, she switched federation in 2018 – Kazakhstan was formerly part of the Soviet Union and is located on the Russian border – to get more funding for her career.
When the Russian and Belarusian tennis players were banned from Wimbledon this year because of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Rybakina was repeatedly asked about his loyalty and current relationship with his homeland. While she has downplayed her relationship with Russia and said she was “really happy” to represent KazakhstanIt is believed that she still resides mostly in Moscow and it added a layer of intrigue to the title showcase.
However, in front of the crowd and the glare of the cameras, both Rybakina and the Duchess of Cambridge were smiling and delighted with the Venus Rosewater Dish.
When asked – again – about the relationship with Russia during her press conference on Sunday, Rybakina tried to end the conversation once and for all.
“From my side, I can only say that I am representing Kazakhstan,” she said. “I didn’t choose where I was born.”
Bright future
Despite the big win – and a run of $2.4 million – Rybakina won’t see his efforts pay off in the rankings. With the WTA stripped of Wimbledon’s ranking points because of the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, Rybakina will remain in 23rd place on Monday’s rankings. In any other major, Rybakina would earn an extra 2,000 points and possibly break into the top 10 for the first time in her career.
However, Rybakina now enters the hard court portion of the season as a Grand Slam winner and will be looking to improve with the best third-round appearance of her career at the US Open. She previously won one of two titles before the Wimbledon surface (at Hobart in 2020), and now, with momentum and confidence at her side, she can succeed even more.
