Elena Rybakina Gives Important Health Update After First-Round Win at US Open

Before arriving in New York for the ongoing US Open, Elena Rybakina‘s campaign in Cincinnati ended in disappointment. During her fourth-round match against defending champion Iga Swiatek, Rybakina injured her left leg, as a consequence of which she was forced to retire mid-match.

Rybakina, following her 6-3, 6-2 win over Thea Frodin, admitted that there was uncertainty regarding her participation in the New York Major. The Kazakh ace, in fact, is still in doubt about whether she will be able to continue playing.

We’ll see day by day. I’m glad I played the match, I won the match. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow… Because I had to take quite a break. I wasn’t playing or doing much physically. For me, now a step at a time. The most important is to recover and listen to the body. For now, it’s been okay.

Elena Rybakina said during the on-court interview

Rybakina, who is in contention for the No.1 ranking, then revealed at the press conference that she did not play tennis for seven days after that injury.

First, actually, when it happened, I felt the moment and straight away I called for the physio in Cincinnati, and she said that a heel tendon was not broken. So that was kind of a good thing. But of course I still had the pain, and I said, ‘Let me just try.’ […] Then when I went to serve, I realized that I cannot push from the leg. So it was impossible to continue, and yeah, from that we started my recovery. We didn’t know if I’m going to be able to play here or not.

Elena Rybakina said

Rybakina will reach the top of the rankings if she reaches the semifinal, irrespective of how World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, World No.3 Jessica Pegula, or World No.4 Coco Gauff perform. Sabalenka will only be able to maintain her spot if she defends her title and Rybakina loses before the semifinals. Gauff and Pegula will become No.1 if they win the title and Rybakina loses before the semifinals.

Elena Rybakina on her match against Thea Frodin

Thea Frodin, Elena Rybakina‘s first-round opponent, was none other than the player who portrayed Serena Williams‘ body double in King Richard, the biographical movie about Richard Williams and his daughters Serena and Venus Williams. Rybakina initially had no idea about Frodin’s acting career.

Yeah. Some of my team, they told me, I think, because they were doing the research. And that’s what came out. I don’t know this moment… I didn’t see movie, but I think, yeah, it’s it’s a cool experience, definitely.

Elena Rybakina said at the press conference

Frodin was handed a wild card for her home Slam. Before this event, she had only featured in one tour-level match, in the qualifying rounds of the Miami Open earlier this year.

Rybakina will next be locking horns with Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who defeated Darja Vidmanova. If she reaches the fourth round, she would square off against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.

Rybakina has already played four finals this year. After upsetting Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open, she lost to the Belarusian ace in the Indian Wells final. Later at the Stuttgart Open, she defeated Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova before losing to six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the Canadian Open final.

The US Open is the only Grand Slam where Rybakina has never made it past the fourth round, reaching this stage only once (last year). At the French Open and Wimbledon this season, the 27-year-old lost in the second and third rounds, respectively.

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