“I feel like I’m not really the Wimbledon champion.”
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Elena Rybakina, winner of the London Grand Slam in July, considered “unfair” Friday the decision not to distribute any points in London because of the ousting of Russian and Belarusian players.
“It was my dream to win at Wimbledon. That’s a shame. I feel like I’m not really the champion,” said Rybakina, 25th player in the world, at a press conference three days before the start of the United States Open in New York.
Last July, Rybakina won the first Grand Slam of her career by beating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6.2 in the final.
Now 20th in the Race standings, qualifying the eight best players of the year at the end of the year Masters, Rybakina was deprived of the points that would have allowed her to position herself in 2nd place following her success in London.
Lack of leadership
“I don’t think that’s fair. I’m not just talking regarding myself, but in general I think that with all these decisions, a lot of players are paying the price,” she said.
“The problem comes from the organization of the circuit, complained the 23-year-old Kazakh player, born in Russia. The WTA suffers from a certain weakness in terms of leadership because there is a lot to deal with.
“I’m not surprised that in the end we had many examples of players who are young but finally decide to quit tennis,” said Rybakina.
The Kazakh will face a qualifier in the first round at Flushing Meadows, before potentially crossing paths with American Venus Williams, winner of seven Majors, including two in front of the New York public.
