Elena Rybakina feels like she’s ‘not the Wimbledon champion,’ says life as champion ‘not the greatest’
Elena Rybakina felt like she was a Wimbledon champion, but says life as a champion is not the greatest.
After suffering through a loss at Wimbledon, which she says reminded her that she’s not the best tennis player in the world, the 30-year-old Russian takes on the challenge of becoming the best in the sport.
Wimbledon champion: Elena Rybakina with her partner, Stanislav Wawrinka
By Rachel Kowalski
It’s easy to feel like you’re a Wimbledon champion when you are leading the way for five sets, with the world’s best players all around you. But for the first time since 2014 it’s not the most fulfilling thing.
“It’s hard to believe I’m the champion but I take that responsibility on my shoulders,” said Russian tennis star Elena Rybakina, who lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Saturday. “I feel like it’s not the greatest and I’m only going to do my best to come up and take my place on the world’s biggest stage.”
In the last few years, tennis, Rybakina’s world, has changed and grown. She has become the face of a growing Russian contingent on the global stage, and has made a huge impact in helping expand the number of women’s players and the number of tickets to tournaments.
The first Grand Slam for Rybakina was in 2013 at the French Open, but she has been on the ATP tour since September 2014, when she was 13. She has won all three of her Grand Slam titles this year, the Australian Open and the Wimbledon.
In 2018, she became the youngest player in the history of the French Open final to get her first career Grand Slam singles title. The last player who was under the age of 14 to win a Grand Slam singles title