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The Russian native Rybakina defeated Ons Jabeur to claim the Wimbledon singles championship. She won the women's singles game in the championship match by defeating Ons Jabeur in three sets, less than two months after tournament's organizers forbade Russian players from competing. Russian-born and -bred Rybakina began competing for Kazakhstan when the Russian Tennis Federation lost up on her. After the former Soviet republic agreed to support her career, the young tennis prodigy started representing Kazakhstan four years ago. Rybakina defeated Jabeur, who stumbled and lost due to inconsistency after gaining an early lead. Rybakina watched Jabeur, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, send one last backhand return wide on the decisive point and strode to the net without even a cheer.
A short while later, she ascended the steps to her box to greet her group. It was Rybakina's first Grand Slam victory and the first for a singles player representing Kazakhstan. In the past 15 years, it has sponsored the tennis careers of several men and women from Russia to increase its international appeal. Now, who is this woman who defeated Jabeur, and how did she manage to reach the Wimbledon?
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Rybakina's Initial Struggles For Pursuing Her Career
Elena Rybakina was born in Moscow, Russia, on June 17, 1909. She has Kazakhstani and Russian nationalities because she was born and raised in Russia. Rybakina has a sister named Anna Rybakina, albeit her parents' identities have not yet been made public. When Rybakina was younger, she competed in gymnastics and ice skating with her sister. However, she indicated in one of her interviews that due to her height, she cannot pursue a career in ice skating or gymnastics. Her height is 184 cm.
While her father used to be a passionate athlete and had tried playing himself when he was 20 years old, he was the one who suggested she give tennis a try. Rybakina graduated from a conventional high school, unlike most athletes, and was forced to choose between attending college and concentrating on her tennis and becoming a pro. Due to her family's financial struggles, she decided to change her citizenship to play for Kazakhstan and receive financial help. Like other girls her age, this sweet child, who has a sweet tooth, writes happy memories of spending time with friends and indulging in sweet delicacies on Instagram.
Establishing Her Tennis Career
She jumped at the chance to obtain financing for her tennis career in Kazakhstan after becoming 18 years old. Last year, she competed for Kazakhstan at the Tokyo Olympics which had great incentives for winners. Since Russia invaded, Ukraine, Belarusian and Russian players were excluded from the event, which made her run to the final uncomfortable and brought politics into the mix. Elena Rybakina is a unique performer but also an effortless diva who has dedicated her life to playing ever since and has kept up a superb movement and service. She would schedule practice sessions and tournaments around her academic obligations. The Russian athlete later changed from Dynamo Sports Club to Spartak Tennis Club.
Rybakina engaged in playtime with Evgenia Kulikovskaya and Andrey Chesnokov there. She received instruction in a group during those periods, and courses often lasted two hours. She had to allocate more time for her workout routine and training regimen. But the most excellent part was having World Championship gold medalist Irina Kiseleva as her modern pentathlon coach. First of all, Rybakina started her career in Grade 2, where she finished second in the Moscow Ozerov Cup. She then transferred to Grade 1, but she soon started having a lot of bad luck. She had a back-to-back Grade 1 victory after a final defeat at the Australian Open. After that, she suffered quite a bit with the gameplay in the 2016 season, but at least she finished the season well. Rybakina started her professional career concurrently with her junior year of high school in 2014. She has participated in Maiden ITF and Maiden WTA as well as played nationally and internationally.
Gaining Recognition As Professional Tennis Player
She gains widespread recognition as a professional tennis player after that. She has reached the WTA final eight times, won two titles, and three WTA 500-level competitions. Although Elena R7ybakina advanced her career in Maiden ITF in December 2014, the road to triumph wasn't easy. She competed in several unnamed singles and doubles events before taking home her first ITF singles title at a $15K tournament in Kazan. Rybakina competed primarily for ITF during those years, but she also qualified for a few WTA titles. Rybakina made her WTA debut at the Kremlin Cup in October 2017, ultimately losing to Irina-Camelia Begu. She defeated Timea Bacsinszky at the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy in February 2018 to earn her first ever triumph on the WTA. After that, Elena generally indulged in the ITF title until the middle of the 2019 season.
As a result of her triumph, she gained entry into the WTA through the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships with a significant deficit. She did not, however, participate in Wimbledon. As she continued to advance, she reached her breaking point when she turned 20 and made the top 100 list of all time. Until then, Rybakina had upset Patricia Maria to win the Bucharest Open and was ranked No. 65. Additionally, despite losing at the US Open, she continued supporting Rebecca Peterson in the Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open. Rybakina is anticipated to have a net worth of $1.5 million, thanks to her well-earned title. She hasn't disclosed the estimated value of her tools or income, but she makes money from her prize money. After that, she won another solo championship in 2020 that was valued at $1 million.
Sources: NY Times, Latest in Bollywood, SCMP