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Elena Rybakina in the women’s final against Ons Jabeur

JElena Rybakina knew what to expect. Of course, there are always many questions the day before a grand final, especially when it’s the first, as in her case. One of the standard questions in such a case is when you first consciously noticed a Wimbledon final as a child or teenager and whether it had always been a dream to experience something like that.

Well, she said recently, she can already remember TV broadcasts, the white clothes, strawberries and champagne, but as a child she could never have imagined playing in the most famous tournament in the world. It wasn’t until she was 17 or 18 that she decided to turn pro, so there was no room for a romantic connection for a long time.

Not perfect preparation

But things developed quickly. Only two years passed from the first appearance at a WTA tournament in Moscow to the first title in 2019 in Bucharest. In 2020 Rybakina was already among the top 20 in the world, ended up in four finals and reached the third round in three Grand Slam tournaments. She seemed to be on a direct path to the top of the world, but then Corona came. Break. After that, she says, she found it very difficult. Plagued by injuries, illnesses and allergies, she somehow always lacked something to be in top form, often simply lacking confidence.

But her coach encouraged her to keep going, the results would come at some point. She still doesn’t feel like she’s perfectly prepared, but she now knows that if you want to win games and still be in the tournaments at the end, you can do it without being perfect every single day.

So much for the sporting part of the story of the young woman who will try this Saturday (3 p.m. on Sky) in the final of the All England Championships to win the most important title in tennis against Ons Jabeur from Tunisia.

World No. 23 is playing No. 2, but while Ons Jabeur is getting credit for being the first woman from the Arab world to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament, her opponent’s nationality is a point with negative connotations.

home on tour

Yelena Rybakina was born in Moscow and grew up in Russia, but accepted an offer from the Kazakh FA in 2018, changed citizenship and has been playing for Kazakhstan ever since. Not an isolated case; colleague Julia Putintseva and colleagues Kukushkin and Bublik were also born in Russia but play for Kazakhstan.

However, since Wimbledon announced weeks ago that Russian players and players from Belarus would not be admitted this time because of the war in Ukraine, Rybakina has to explain again and again which nation she feels she belongs to. Over the past few days, she patiently repeated that she was very grateful to Kazakhstan for their support.

And when asked where Vosie was at home, she answered: “I think I’m at home on the tour, I travel every week anyway. I train in Slovakia and sometimes in Dubai. I don’t live anywhere.”

But regardless of how she sees it herself, there’s a very good chance those in charge have mixed feelings about the possibility of the Duchess of Cambridge presenting tennis’s most famous trophy to a Russian-born this Saturday.

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