Russian naturalized player Elena Rivakina (23rd, world ranking 23rd) won the first Grand Slam title in her new homeland, Kazakhstan, with a 1% chance of winning.
Rivakina defeated Ons Jaber (28, Tunisia, 2nd place) 2-1 (3-6 6-2 6-2) in the women’s singles final of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament held at the Center Court of the All England Club near London on the 9th (local time) cut with It is the first time in 15 years since 2007 (Venus Williams) that a player outside the top 20 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world ranking has won Wimbledon. However, Williams had already reached number one in the world rankings, and it was a result achieved following winning three Wimbledon titles (five times in his career).
The probability of winning Rivakina, which Caesar Sportsbook predicted before the competition, was 1%. Rivakina herself said, “I didn’t even expect that I would be in the second week at Wimbledon, but I’m surprised.
This Wimbledon was held while Russian and Belarusian nationals were banned from participating in the tournament due to the invasion of Ukraine. If it had not been for naturalization four years ago, Rivakina would not have been able to participate in this competition. Rivakina naturalized to Kazakhstan, which offered financial and training support in 2018, when she was only ranked 175th in the world. Kazakhstan has been actively promoting the naturalization of Russian players with financial support from the president of the Tennis Association, Bullat Utemuratov. Forbes estimates that Chairman Utemuratov’s net worth is $2.5 billion (regarding 3.23 trillion won). As a result, the current top-ranked Kazakhstan tennis players (men’s 1st to 3rd place, and women’s 1st to 2nd place) are all from Russia. Chairman Utemuratov visited the stadium that day and watched Rivakina receive the trophy from Britain’s Crown Prince Kate Middleton.
During the competition, Rivakina has been repeatedly asked regarding her connection to Russia. Even following she won the championship, controversy over her nationality continued, Riva Kina said, “All I can say is that I represent Kazakhstan. I did not choose where I was born,” she replied. She did not answer questions regarding how much time she spends in Moscow, where Rivakina lives with her parents, she replied, only that she trains in Dubai, Slovakia, out of season. She added, “She said, “To be honest, I don’t live anywhere.”
Like Rivakina, this final was also his first Grand Slam final, and Javert has postponed winning the first Grand Slam from Africa. Before that day’s defeat, Javes was on a 11-game winning streak, and all of these victories were records on the grass court. However, Riva Kina started a counterattack with a powerful serve from her tall stature. She eventually became the fighter to win her first set at Wimbledon women’s singles following 16 years since 2006 (Amelie Mauresmo).
Even following winning the championship, Rivakina, who did not let out a common roar, did a simple victory ceremony by stretching out her fists in the air only following greeting Javes on the court. But when asked how her parents would react to Riva Kina, who had barely expressed any emotion on her coat, she said, “I’m sure they’ll be very happy,” she said with hidden tears.
Reporter Im Bo-mi bom@donga.com
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