‘Servebot’ Elena Rybakina breaks Karolina Pliskova’s all-time record for the most aces at WTA-1000 events in a season
Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinal of the China Open.
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Elena Rybakina (Source: WTA)
Kazakhstani tennis player Elena Rybakina is currently one of the best servers in women’s tennis and there is no doubt about that. She is often called the ‘servebot’’ and she recently broke the record for the most aces in WTA-1000s events in a single season, which was earlier held by Karolina Pliskova.
Elena Rybakina currently has 235 aces in a WTA-1000s events in a single season and she can further improve her record by the end of the season. The record was earlier held by Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who had 234 aces in the 2019 season. The next three highest numbers of aces in WTA-1000s events in a single season were achieved by Serena Williams in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively (232, 216, and 214).
Rybakina achieved the record in her match against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the China Open quarterfinal, which the Kazakhstani ended up winning. The Kazakh defeated the Belarusian 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinal, which took her to the semis. She will now face Liudmila Samsonova in the semi-final.
In the other semifinal, Coco Gauff will be taking on Iga Swiatek. Coco registered her first-ever win over the Polish international in the 2023 Cincinnati Open and she would like to make her head-to-head record better in their upcoming encounter. Iga Swiatek, on the other hand, who recently also lost her World No. 1 position, will look for revenge against the youngster.
Elena Rybakina withdrew from the Japan Open following ‘Performance bye’ criticisms
Elena Rybakina was supposed to face Linda Noskova in the first round of the 2023 Japan Open but she pulled out of the tournament at the very last moment, citing health-related issues. Her decision to not participate in the Japan Open came after a series of controversial digs at the new performance bye that the WTA is trying out.
According to this new rule, performance in recently played WTA events takes precedence over WTA rankings in getting byes in tournaments. For that reason, Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia got byes in the Japan Open over 5th-ranked Elena Rybakina, who had to play the round-of-32 match. She took to social media to heavily critique this new practice and received mixed responses from fans across the globe. Later, she withdrew from the tournament.
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Rishab Dutta
(794 Articles Published)