Elena Rybakina feels like she’s ‘not the Wimbledon champion,’ says life as champion ‘not the greatest’ [INTERVIEW]
As if the tennis is not enough, at least one of the top seeds is now thinking about the Wimbledon final.
Elena Rybakina, the top seed in Wimbledon’s women’s doubles play, says she finds the pressure on to win at her hometown final in March, the first Grand Slam of the year, “absolutely ridiculous.”
After she and fellow top seed Caroline Wozniacki got knocked out in the quarterfinals by Kiki Bertens and Jelena Jankovic, Rybakina said she is looking forward to the final on Centre Court. But she knows she has to deliver against the Belgian four-time Wimbledon champion.
“At least I’m not facing Caroline,” she said. “I just can’t wait to see her and her team play. I don’t really mind losing — this is exactly the best tennis I have ever had in my career, so I’d rather lose in a final. But Caroline is definitely the most dangerous player. I’m not afraid of her. I just don’t know her style. I don’t really like the fact that she is a very, very strong player. We are not going to play every match on clay. But this is her year. I love her as a person and I like to play with the best players. But I don’t know her style very well.”
Rybakina also said she doesn’t know much about the Belgian as a person but is familiar with her as a player. Wozniacki said in her semifinal win over Bertens they were both impressed by her.
“She’s very talented,” Wozniacki said. “She’s very intense. But a lot of people don’t know her as a person. She goes a very, very hard process. But she tries to be the best player in the world for Wimbledon and other tournaments. She’s a very, very, very hard worker, and very focused on her job. Because of the tournament she’s playing, we have to be even more focused.
“She’s a special person who tries
