Last April, Wimbledon officials decided to exclude Russian players from their tournament. On Saturday, ironically, it was a player of Russian origin who won the women’s Grand Slam title.
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Elena Rybakina, who was born and raised in Moscow but has been playing for Kazakhstan since 2018, won 3-6, 6-2 and 6-2 against world No. 2 Ons Jabeur.
At the same time, she became the first player from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam title. At 23, she is the youngest Wimbledon champion since Petra Kvitova in 2011. She gets her hands on a check for $3.1 million Canadian.
“I can’t believe it,” Rybakina said at a press conference. Maybe in a few days I will realize what I just did.
“I’m super proud of myself, my team and everyone who works with me. It was difficult and I think we succeeded together. »
Rybakina delivered a great performance to get the win. In the first set, she was broken in her second service game. From then on, Jabeur picked up pace and she followed her game plan to the letter. The Tunisian was in control of the match thanks to a great variety in her attacks.
However, the tide turned from the first moments of the second race. Rybakina took matters into her own hands with a break from the start. She gained confidence in her abilities and she began to chain the good shots.
The inconstancy of Jabeur
For her part, Jabeur was unable to seize opportunities to curb her young rival’s momentum. She was unable to convert four break points in that set. As we have seen on several occasions since the start of the tournament, she has been inconstant.
If she was able to get out of trouble in her previous matches, this was not the case against Rybakina. She entered through the door that opened to her.
The Kazakh smashed Jabeur early in the third set. A hard blow. The end point of this meeting came at 3-2 in favor of Rybakina. Jabeur had the chance to bring the two players back to square one with three break points. Again, she failed.
The rest of the meeting was a formality for Rybakina.
After the confirmation of her triumph, the new champion had a reserved reaction. We were far from the cries of joy of the other champions.
“She deserves this title, underlined Ons Jabeur. I’m sad about the turn of events, but that’s part of tennis. There can only be one winner.
“It was a great experience for me. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from this game. These are two positive weeks for me. I will hold my head high. »
Doubts
To return to his links with Russia, note that Rybakina was asked several questions during his journey to great honors on London soil.
“I have been representing Kazakhstan for several years and I am very happy,” she said. They believe in me. I have no doubt in my mind. I represented this country at the Olympics and the Fed Cup.
“I’m a tennis player and I’m happy to be here. I try to do my best. It’s a shame for the players [russes et biélorusses] who were unable to participate in the tournament. »
She tried to put the cover on the pot several times.
“I was born in Russia and I represent Kazakhstan. I don’t know why I have to come back to this. I have already answered several questions on this subject.
“During my matches, the president of the Kazakh federation came to encourage me. It’s big. It’s incredible support. »
In the notebook…
- Several big names in women’s tennis attended the meeting between Elena Rybakina et Ons Jabeur. Conchita Martinez, Martina Navratilova et Billie Jean King were seated in the royal box to watch this final between the two best players of the last fortnight.
- Speaking of celebrities, Tom Cruise was also in the royal box for this part. He was all smiles. We can understand it when he has just pocketed a huge fee to be part of the sequel to the film Top Gun.
- During this time, Nick Kyrgios et Novak Djokovic trained on the grounds of the Aorangi complex on Saturday afternoon. The two finalists had a friendly chat before getting to work. In summary, the Serb thanked the Australian for having supported him in the public square during his disputes with the Australian justice system. An interesting moment.
- It was a day of firsts at Wimbledon. Angella Okutoyi became the first champion from Kenya. With his doubles partner Rose Marie Nijkampshe won the junior tournament after a great comeback against the Canadians Kayla Cross et Victoria Mboko. They won the game by a score of 3-6, 6-4 and 11-9.