“I would be ashamed,” Elena Rybakina’s father hits out at the ‘less-educated’ Russian Tennis Federation for claiming credit of his daughter’s Wimbledon title
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Elena Rybakina and Shamil Tarpischev, President of the Russian Tennis Federation
World No. 25 Elena Rybakina had her crowning moment at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships when she defeated Ons Jabeur to win the women’s singles title at the historic tournament, her first Grand Slam title. The 23-year-old dropped only two sets throughout the tournament, once in the quarter-finals against Ajla Tomljanovic and then in the finals against Jabeur.
Elena’s win over Ajla made her the first Kazakhstani singer player ever to reach a Grand Slam semi-final let alone win a major. She also became the youngest champion at the All-England Club since Petra Kvitova won the title in 2011 at the age of 21 while also becoming the youngest Wimbledon finalist since 2015 when Garbine Muguruza finished runner-up to Serena Williams in what was a brilliant fortnight for the ace-machine.
“They are now a little sorry,”: Elena Rybakina’s father on the Russian Tennis Federation
Andrei Rybakin, the father of Elena, finally came out to address certain topics after his daughter’s win in the Grand Slam. With Elena switching nationalities from Russia to Kazakhstan after the latter offered her better opportunities to grow as a tennis Pro, her title in Wimbledon saw Shamil Tarpischev, President of the currently suspended Russian Tennis Federation call Elena ‘our product’ claiming credit for her Grand Slam victory. While Elena herself rebuked those comments, her father has finally spoken out on the whole issue.
“I think that people who depended on something and who could help, are now a little sorry. I had certain exits, and if I had shown more enthusiasm in this direction, something with the help of the Russian Tennis Federation might have come out. But I did not take advantage of these opportunities. At some point, the federation sent me a contract for Lena. But I looked at him and felt sad. The essence of the contract is expressed in the well-known catchphrase: ‘There is no money, but you hold on.’ Honestly, I would be ashamed to send such a contract.
“And the approach itself is ‘our product’. Another would say – ‘biomass’. Unfortunately, we have such an approach to individuals. I don’t take offence at anyone. It’s just that some things are said due to, let’s say, linguistic limitations. There are only a few people who received a good education and achieved high results in sports. That’s why all these ‘products’ sound,” said Andrei speaking with Sport Express Russia.
Rybakina has maintained her loyalty towards Kazakhstan and will be representing the nation yet again in a Grand Slam when she plays at the 2022 US Open which starts on 29th August in New York where the Wimbledon champ is guaranteed to be seeded in the draw.
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