Elena Rybakina shared her disappointment with the court after her loss to Jessica Pegula at the WTA Finals.
It is the final showdown of the season in the WTA Tour and it has already started. The opening matches have already taken place in which the top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated Maria Sakkari and Jessica Pegula defeated Elena Rybakina.
Rybakina has been grouped alongside Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, and Maria Sakkari in the Bacalar group at Cancun. She played her first group match against Jessica Pegula and lost to her 5-7, 2-6. The match started well for Rybakina who was leading by 5-4 in the opening set. But, Pegula did not lose hope and won the set 7-5. She kept the momentum going in the second set as well and won the set 6-2.
Rybakina shared her disappointment after the loss, and it was not her but the court who was to blame. She referred to the court as “not good enough” for the top 8. Though she is very happy with the facilities and conditions of the tournament. The poor condition of the court was the reason that prevented her from pushing hard in the match.
During her post-match press, Elena stresses how bad the court and conditions in Cancum are. She believes everybody is adapting to the conditions right now but it is really stressful.
“As I said, I’m not really happy with the conditions & the set up of the tournament.. About the court, I don’t really want to talk. But of course, it’s not good. For sure not for the final 8.”
-Elena Rybakina during Cancum Press
Elena Rybakina makes her debut in the Finals
A historic moment for the Kazakhstani player as she makes her debut in the WTA Finals of this season.
Elena Rybakina had a fantastic season at the WTA tour. She won two WTA 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Rome. The WTA title at Rome was her first clay court title. She also reached the finals of the Miami Open and semifinals at the Canada and China Open.
She could not perform better at the other major tournaments. She had to retire in the third round at the French Open and also lost in the third round of the US Open. Following her retirement at the French Open, she reached her career-best ranking of No. 3. She was the champion at the 2022 Wimbledon Open and couldn’t defend her title in 2023.
However, her consistency across the WTA Tournaments did not stop her from making it to her first ever WTA Finals, and she will be looking to compensate for her Major results.
