Two sets were enough for Elena Rybakina to reach the 2nd round of Wimbledon. The Kazakh tennis player beat the RomanianElena Gabriela Ruse in straight sets with a final score of 6-3 6-1. The former winner of the Championships essentially dominated the challenge, leaving only crumbs to her opponent, also held back by some physical problems.
Elena hopes to be one of the protagonists of the London tournament, which has seen a lot of inconsistency and continuous surprises in recent years. Just think that in the last seven years there have been seven different champions in London. Answering this question during the press conference, Elena analyzed how the grass swing is shorter and more insidious, compared to the clay-swing where Iga Swiatek dominates, consequently warning her Polish rival:
"I hope I can repeat again! There are many good players. I think that on clay Iga is definitely a big favorite. Wimbledon is a very special surface. The season is quite short. I also think that many new players are arriving. We'll see," she explained.
Also at the press conference, Rybakina shared the challenges of switching from clay to grass and then back to clay again for the Olympics.
"It's a really tough program. It's very demanding to switch from one surface to another, to adapt. Now this will be the first time I'll switch from grass to clay. It's not easy physically or mentally. Overall it's a tough program. I'll work every day.I'll try to push myself. I work every day," she explained.
Media then asked Elena if she still remembers what it felt like to return to Wimbledon as the defending champion.
"Marketa Vondrousova talked a few hours ago about how nervous she was to come here as a defending champion? I was quite nervous too. Like now. I think every match you play you are quite nervous. Of course you want to repeat the result. Maybe sometimes the expectations are too high. At the end of the day, you fight against yourself every day. I think it's normal to be nervous at the end," she explained.
