By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Elena Rybakina will not be shouting her odds from the rooftops as she prepares for the defence of her Wimbledon title, that is just not the Moscow-born 24-year-old’s style.
Rybakina prefers to let her potent strokes do the talking, just as she did last year when marching to a surprise title after a sensational fortnight in London.
The Kazakhstan player’s ‘celebration’ after her defeat of Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the final was so low key that it could have been a first round match at a routine WTA event.
Her calm response perhaps helped her prevent the kind of let-down players often experience after claiming a first Grand Slam title and she has backed it up impressively.
Yet despite being the third-ranked player in the world, and having reached the Australian Open final this year as well as title runs at Indian Wells and Rome, Rybakina will saunter into Wimbledon with little fanfare.
While much of the focus is understandably on top seed Iga Swiatek and number two Aryna Sabalenka, as well as the likes of Coco Gauff and Jabeur, Rybakina will quietly go about her business when she opens play on Centre Court on Tuesday.
Her clean ball striking and silky movement are ideally-suited to Wimbledon’s lawns while her serve is the weapon that took her all the way to the title last year.
There are some concerns, however.
She was bothered by a virus at the French Open, having to pull out before her third-round match, and withdrew from this week’s Eastbourne championships, raising questions about her fitness and form ahead of Wimbledon.
“She’s got the perfect game for grass when everything is working, but everything has to be working,” three-time Wimbledon champion Chris Evert said when previewing the tournament for broadcaster ESPN this week.
“It’s always tough to defend your title. I just feel like she’s shown a little vulnerability this year. She played a great, great match when she won the tournament, but at the same time I don’t know if she’s at that top form right now.
“You definitely have to be 100 percent physically to play seven matches and to do things with your body that you’re not accustomed to doing versus a hard court or a clay court.”
As Evert rightly points out, successfully defending a Wimbledon women’s title is no easy task. Only Serena and Venus Williams and Steffi Graf have managed it in the last 30 years.
But anyone dismissing Rybakina’s chances of joining that elite club would do well to remember the way she calmly picked her way through the draw last year with the minimum of fuss.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
