Kazakhstan’s tennis star Elena Rybakina mostly focused on gymnastics and ice skating. But told she was too tall to consider either of those sports at a professional level, her attention turned to tennis.
It proved a wise career choice, for the No.17 seed from Kazakhstan is now a Wimbledon quarter-finalist. Adding to the Grand Slam quarter-final milestone she also reached at 2021 Roland-Garros, Rybakina’s new career high at Wimbledon comes in only her second main draw appearance at The Championships.
First Wimbledon quarter-final ✅
Elena Rybakina defeats Petra Martic 7-5, 6-3 on No.1 Court#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/PiGC0KQtRj
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2022
The 23-year-old achieved that feat with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Petra Martic that was tighter than the straight sets score suggested, Rybakina requiring an hour and 20 minutes to triumph over the crafty Croatian.
“I started well and I think Petra started a bit slower, made some mistakes,” Rybakina reflected afterwards.
“Then she raised her level a bit and I wasn’t ready. And then I was just going for some of the points and I’m really happy that I managed to win that first set.”
“It’s an amazing tournament. I was watching on TV when I was a kid,” a shyly smiling Rybakina told the No.1 Court audience. “It’s a dream to play on such courts with such crowds and I’m just happy to go forward and we’ll see how it goes.”
Rybakina will do so with the benefit of one of the biggest weapons in women’s tennis. Entering the fourth round, she’d served a Tour-high 191 aces this year. Her fastest serve against Martic registered 122 mph.
“It gives me a lot of confidence,” said Rybakina, who recorded 26 winners in total, against 17 unforced errors, in the fourth round win.
“I served really well this week. Hopefully I can continue to do so but of course it’s (a) great advantage for me.”
“I’m enjoying my time here now because I didn’t have much expectation,” she said. “I didn’t start the grass season well with two other tournaments. I knew that the surface suits my game very good, but in the end, I’m just trying to enjoy every match I play.”
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Wimbledon Elena Rybakina Tennis Sports Kolkata
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