Elena Rybakina Picture Credit: Wimbledon
On July 9, the number 17 seeded Elena Rybakina etched her name into the history books by becoming the first-ever player from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam title. She defeated number three seed Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a 1-hour, 48-minute battle to claim the women's singles title of Wimbledon 2022. In this pursuit, she became the youngest woman to win the coveted title since 21-year-old Petra Kvitova, won it in 2011.
Jabeur had secured a dominating victory over Rybakina in the first set, but the latter displayed a terrific fight back to win the subsequent sets. The second set was a turning point of the match, where she covered the lost ground by terrific forehand shots and aced in the aspect of serves.
The 23-year-old had never gone past the quarter-final stage in the earlier editions of Wimbledon, with 2021 witnessing her losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round.
After the culmination of the Finals, Ryabkina thanked the crowd for their support, and also congratulated Jabeur for her impressive performance. In addition, she thanked her team and parents for the support.
“I’m speechless,” she said.
“The crowd were unbelievable and I want to congratulate Ons, you are an inspiration. It was a joy to play against you," she added.
“It’s an honour to play here in this unbelievable atmosphere. I didn’t expect to be in the second week. To be a winner is just amazing. I wouldn’t be here without my team of course, so I want to say a big thanks to them. And most importantly my parents,” she further said.
"I was trying to convince myself that it might happen again, and hopefully it's not the last time I'm in the final. Not the first; not the last. I already did a great job with my team," she stated.
Ryabkina's previous Grand Slam title came at Roland Gross 2021, wherein she defeated Serena Williams to reach the quarter-finals.