Elena Rybakina: The Silent Operator

There is something definitely admirable about how Elena Rybakina goes about her business on a tennis court. There is very little to go by from her on-court demeanor. She could be winning, she could be losing, but the carriage remains the same while she goes about her tennis with unerring poise. You get the feeling watching her that very little unnerves her. Which is why once she gets into her swing, she can be very difficult to rattle or throw off her game. It is this trait that has led her to 2 Grand Slam titles in style, with the most recent coming at the Australian Open, where she was in outstanding form, sweeping high-quality opponents aside. It was not until the finals that she finally dropped her first set of the tournament, which is remarkable considering she played the likes of Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula enroute to the final, where she held her nerve better than her opponent to get across the line.

Standing at an intimidating 6 feet. She certainly is a player with a lot going for her. For tennis purists, she’s the ideal player, possessing a great serve and forehand, a power game that only a few on the WTA tour can match, while going about the game in eerie silence -impressive in its own right in a sport where players’ heavy grunting is increasingly becoming the order of the day. She has now won 2 Grand Slams playing in her unique style, which over the past 2 weeks has proven too much for the rest of the tour. Ironically, her run to both her slam titles has been reminiscent of her demeanor on court, as she has won both rather stealthily. Both times, she was not expected to win the title, especially her first at Wimbledon, where she was not even considered a favourite going in, and she also made history by becoming the first Kazakh player to win a grand slam.

The Early Signs

Perhaps, this time, her victory at Melbourne shouldn’t be all too surprising. As was evident towards the tail end of last season, she was beginning to regain the form we all know she’s capable of, culminating in a win at the WTA finals – a competition she just about qualified for at the eleventh hour. By qualifying late and not having had a great season by her usually high standards, she probably wasn’t expected to win the whole thing, which is when she tends to thrive. She now boasts a 10-0 winning streak against top-10 players and has won 20 of her last 21 matches.

She’d hope to continue profiting from flying under the radar at some of the top events, winning more slams without having to deal with the heightened spotlight or the pressure of being the favourite or at least one of the favourites going into these events. However, one suspects those days are now gone, while there are many players on the WTA Tour with one Grand Slam under their belts who haven’t necessarily gone on to do great things. Two Grand Slams on two different surfaces suggest a real pedigree and is certainly not something to be scoffed at.

A New Reality for Rybakina

It remains to be seen whether this becomes her new reality, especially as tennis players are increasingly put under the microscope, and how she deals with the expectations and the spotlight. One suspects, though, that she would not be fussed by any of it as she continues to establish herself as one of the tour’s leading players. She’ll now be hoping she can take that form into the next Grand Slam, Roland Garros, where she has yet to make a solid impression, being the only slam where she’s failed to reach the semi-finals. She is no doubt the in-form player going into the rest of the season. And you can be sure she’ll give nothing away, as she’ll be looking to employ her considerable arsenal, comprising plenty of aces, heavy ground-strokes, and short, effective points with most going her way, as she goes about dispatching opponents in her stoic but brutally effective fashion.