Elena Rybakina appears to be set to play tennis again in 2024 as Kazakh Billie Jean King Cup team captain Yuri Schukin claims the world No. 5 intends to play the WTA Finals and also the upcoming tie against South Korea.
As everyone knows extremely well by now, the Kazakh tennis star has been absent from the WTA Tour since a shocking split with long-time coach Stefano Vukov and abruptly pulling out of her US Open second-round match. Over the last two months, there has been a lot of speculation about what was happening with the 25-year-old and there were even reports indicating that she split with Vukov because she was dealing with "constant insults" and that she needed time to heal.
But now, it is being reported that Rybakina "feels well" and that she will be ready to make a comeback at the WTA Finals in 10 days.
Kazakhstan team captain Schukin: Our leader Rybakina will play
"Currently, our athletes are preparing to perform against the South Korean team. Elena Rybakina, Zarina Diyas, Yulia Putintseva, Anna Danilina, Zhibek Kulambayeva have been selected as members of the national team. The leader of our team Elena Rybakina plans to play at the WTA Finals tournament at the end of this season, where she qualified due to her successful results at the beginning of the year. Now Elena feels well, and if she manages to show a confident game in Riyadh, she is determined to play in the matches against the South Korean team," Schukin said in a statement.
Between November 02-09, the inaugural edition of the WTA Finals in Riyadh will take place. A week later, Kazakhstan will host South Korea in a Billie Jean King Cup tie at the Beeline Arena in Astana.
Although the 2022 Wimbledon champion hasn't played in two months, she still routinely booked a place for the season-ending tournament as she is fifth on the list. But since she hasn't competed for an extended time, the question is how it will all look for her in Riyadh.
