Wimbledon 2022 has brought some interesting stories filled with lots of twists and turns ranging from shocking upsets to historical runs, and it has been set in the backdrop of an ever-changing and often contentious world. Perhaps the biggest story of the tournament so far is centered around rising star Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan. The 6 foot tall athlete, who has been one of the most dominant players on the WTA Tour in recent months, is through to the biggest final in her career to date. She has become the youngest woman player to reach the Wimbledon Final since Garbine Muguruza in 2015. She also became the first Kazakhstani athlete, male or female, to reach the final of a major tournament. Rybakina has one more hurdle to overcome to claim the title at Wimbledon and that’s beating World Number 2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. No big deal, right?
For those who don’t watch tennis or don’t follow it closely, it’s understandable if you’ve never heard of Elena Rybakina, but now is the time to find out who she is. Rybakina made her WTA debut in 2016. She has 2 WTA singles titles. Her first singles title came at the 2019 Bucharest Open where she defeated Patricia Maria Tig in the final. She won her second singles title at the 2020 Hobart International where she defeated Zhang Shuai in the final. She cracked the top-20 to close out the 2020 season. Rybakina ascended to number 14 in the world rankings in 2021, which made her the highest ever ranked player in Kazakhstan history. She reached the quarterfinals at a major tournament for the first time when she defeated Serena Willimas in the 4th round of the 2021 French Open. Rybakina also represented Kazakhstan at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2021. She finished 4th after losing in three sets to Elina Svitolina in the Bronze Medal Match.
Elena Rybakina got off to a hot start in 2022 rising to world number 12 on January 17. This marked a new career high for Rybakina. She has since dropped to her current ranking of number 23.
To suggest that Elena Rybakina entered the 2022 edition of Wimbledon as an underdog would be the understatement of the year. She wasn’t a dark horse, and she wasn’t really a thought for most tennis fans, or players for that matter. Yet, here we are. Rybakina made it all the way to the quarterfinals without dropping a set. This was her second career quarterfinal at a major. She beat Coco Vandeweghe, Bianca Andreescu, Qinwen Zheng, and Petra Martic to reach the quarterfinals. She faced Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. After dropping the first set 4-6, Rybakina cruised to victory taking the next two sets from Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-3. This set-up a date in the semifinals against 2019 Wimbledon Champion Simona Halep. Rybakina dispatched Halep in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to advance to her first ever final at a major tournament. Rybakina’s victory made her the first Kazakhstani player to reach a major final. She also became the youngest ladies Wimbledon finalist since Spain’s Garbine Muguruza made the Wimbledon Final in 2015.
Elena Rybakina is set to play Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur on Saturday July 9th on Center Court. Both players are looking to claim their first major title. The match is scheduled to take place at 6:00 AM on the West Coast, which is 9:00 AM on the East Coast.
