Elena Rybakina was born in Moscow, Russia, 23 years ago. Four seasons ago she adopted Kazakh nationality and last week she made history by being crowned champion of Wimbledon on the london lawn, third Grand Slam of the season, in the final of which she beat the Tunisian Ons Jabeur by 3-6 6-2 y 6-2.
The champion refused to collect an extra bonus from the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, his adopted country. In exchange, he asked the leadership to channel that money towards the development of junior players and to maintain animal shelters in the country.
Rybakina obtained the most important victory of her career in London when she beat the Tunisian Ons Jabeur and won his first title Grand Slam representing Kazakhstan after changing Russian nationality before serving 20 years.
circumvented the ban
The decision to become a Kazakh national a few years ago helped her avoid the Wimbledon 2022 ban, which banned players from Russia and Belarus for a war between Russia and Ukraine since the end of February this year.
Instead of adding to his finances after his feat at the Grass Major, Rybakina told the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation that any financial bonuses be spent as she sees fit.
“First of all, I would like to help the juniors, most of the money will be for them,” the tennis player said at a press conference, quoted by Astana Times.
“The transition from youth to adult career is very difficult. Besides, you must have a good team around you, not everyone is able to continue at a professional level and only a few reach the top, “he assured.
“The second important point for me is that I was in the animal shelter and I was very touched, so I would like to put money towards the animal shelter,” he said.
no regrets
There has been a lot of talk about his change of nationality in recent weeks. The Moscow-born star today, who still lives in Russia, she had an offer from Kazakh tennis, which promised to support her financially and provide her with high-level training.
Rybakina He firmly said I don’t know. he regrets adopting Kazakhstan as his new country.
