"An incredible person to work with"
The success of Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon became a real sensation.
Before the start of the competition, few could have imagined that the native of Moscow, whose highest achievement in the Grand Slam tournaments before that was reaching the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, would win, but she managed to perform a small miracle.
Some note that the tennis player representing Kazakhstan was lucky with the net, but in fact she had to face quite strong opponents.
So, in the second round, she passed the US Open-2019 champion Bianca Andreescu, and in the quarterfinals in three sets she broke the resistance of Ayla Tomlyanovic, who occupies 44th place in the WTA ranking.
She showed her high level in decisive matches.
At first, Rybakina did not leave a chance to the former first racket of the planet Simone Halep (6:3, 6:3), and then she showed willpower in the decisive confrontation with the number two WTA rating Ons Jaber, who this year excelled in tournaments in Berlin and Madrid and burned desire to win the first TBSH in his career.
After the first set, it seemed quite real.
Elena was visibly nervous and did not look her best, which led to a large number of unforced errors - 17 against seven for her opponent.
As a result, the Tunisian calmly took over with two breaks - 6:3.
Such an unsuccessful start could unsettle the 23-year-old girl, but the Muscovite, famous for her calmness, gathered herself and turned the course of the meeting.
In the second game, she immediately took the opponent's serve and confidently brought the matter to victory - 6:2.
In the final set, the scenario was completely repeated.
Although Zhaber made many mistakes, Rybakina did everything in her power and did not allow her to return to the game.
For example, in the sixth game of the decisive game, she won back a triple break point, after which the more experienced Tunisian finally gave up.
It is noteworthy that Elena became the first tennis player since 2006, who managed to win the Wimbledon final, losing in the first set.
Amelie Mauresmo did it 16 years ago.
Also, Rybakina became the first TBS triumph in the history of Kazakhstan and the youngest Wimbledon champion since 2011, when Petra Kvitova achieved success at the age of 21.
The most amazing thing is that, even having taken the upper hand over Zhaber, the athlete retained her composure.
She just raised her fist up and smiled slightly.
Composure has long become a visiting card of a Muscovite, but she unexpectedly gave vent to her emotions at a press conference.
The girl complained that her parents were not able to come to the final, after which she burst into tears.
Seeing the shocked media representatives, she asked: “Well, you wanted emotions from me?”
Those present in the hall immediately burst out laughing.
“I did not expect what happened in these two weeks.
It was a physically and mentally exhausting game, so at the end I was just really glad that it was over.
At that moment, I simply did not believe that I had succeeded, ”said Rybakina.
She also paid tribute to her opponent and admitted that playing with Zhaber is a real pleasure for her.
According to the representative of Kazakhstan, there are no people on the WTA tour who demonstrate the same tennis as Ons.
Tunisia thanked Elena in response and even jokingly promised to teach her how to celebrate.
The coach of the winner Stefano Vukov, like his ward, admitted that he could not even imagine such a success.
“We started working together four years ago, participated in ITF tournaments ... This is amazing (victory. -
RT
) for her as a player, and for me as a coach.
She is a very calm person.
It cannot be changed: it is what it is.
But she can be a little more aggressive in order not to stop during the match, but to win more chances.
She is like that, and it is incredibly pleasant to work with her, ”the Eurosport specialist quotes.
“It was very embarrassing for the organizers to present the trophy to a native of Russia”
In the world of tennis, more attention was paid not so much to the result itself, but to the fact that Wimbledon, ironically, was won by a native of Moscow.
And after the end of the meeting, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, had to hand her the trophy in front of the whole world.
So, the British journalist Sam Street noted that the athlete will probably have to pay tax on prize money earned in London to the Russian treasury - "directly to Vladimir Putin."
At the same time, Victoria Azarenka, according to him, "would not send a penny to Belarus."
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American journalist Ben Rothenberg noted the other side of the historic triumph.
“Of course, it is very embarrassing that after the ban on the participation of Russians, a Muscovite won Wimbledon, but, in my opinion, this indicates a huge failure of Russia.
Elena Rybakina left Russian tennis because they did not support her and did not recognize her talent, ”he wrote.
And the British edition of Express on the eve called the magnificent performance of Rybakina a "nightmare" for the organizers of Wimbledon.
The fans were also surprised.
One of them wrote on social networks that it was impossible to come up with a scenario better than in which a representative of the royal family presents the trophy to a Russian woman.
Another called the situation when a Muscovite wins a tournament despite the suspension of Russian tennis players as nonsense.
Some felt that this clearly demonstrated the incompatibility of sports and politics.
“My congratulations to Elena.
Probably, the organizers were very embarrassed to present the trophy to a native of Russia, despite the fact that they were trying to isolate this country.
Sport for everyone, please no need for isolation.
Let sport be free from politics,” one Twitter user emphasized.
“Kazakhstan helped me a lot”
But domestic fans can only complain about the fact that Rybakina wins under the flag of another country.
Elena was born and raised in Russia and took her first steps in tennis here, but she achieved success already in Kazakhstan.
She made a key decision in her career in 2018.
“At some point, the financial issue was resolved, she is better there, in Kazakhstan, in this regard.
Everyone has the right to make their own choice, ”the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, explained what happened.
In the new country, she was given all-round support, as Alexander Bublik, Yulia Putintseva and Mikhail Kukushkin, who had also previously changed sports citizenship, did everything so that she could focus on sports.
As a result, Elena made a jump in the WTA ranking from 191st in 2018 to 14th in 2021.
She also managed to win tournaments in Hobart and Bucharest and reach the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
In Japan, she first lost to the future champion Belinda Bencic, and in the match for third place - Elina Svitolina.
“I am proud to play for the national team.
I was received very warmly.
Surprisingly, even though I did not manage to win a medal in Tokyo, I was supported by a lot of people.
Of course, feeling such an attitude, I want to show even better results.
For me, this is a huge motivation, ”the Muscovite shared her impressions in an interview with Sports.ru.
At Wimbledon, journalists often asked the future winner whether she felt more like a Russian or a Kazakh, and, in the end, she gave the answer.
“I was born in Russia, but, of course, I represent Kazakhstan.
For me it has been a long journey.
Before that, I played at the Olympics and in the Federation Cup ... I feel the support of people and I am very happy to represent Kazakhstan, because I think that my results also benefit Kazakh sports ... They believed in me.
They did everything they could to keep me playing and improving.
I had all the conditions for training and the like.
Of course, it helped a lot, ”Rybakina emphasized.
It is not surprising that immediately after the victory over Zhaber, she went to the stands and hugged the head of the local tennis federation, Bulat Utemuratov.
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, also congratulated her on her victory.