‘I didn’t feel a top player’ – Elena Rybakina questioned if Wimbledon win was ‘luck’ but now has more ‘confidence’

Elena Rybakina has revealed that she felt like her Wimbledon win last year was a “mistake or by luck”, and hasn’t felt like a “top player” until this season.

She was not awarded any ranking points for the victory as there were none on offer at the tournament following the ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

Rybakina says that contributed to her not feeling like a “top player” at subsequent tournaments, despite her success.

“In my case, it was a bit different that I didn’t get the points, so on the rest of the tournaments and another big Grand Slam, I didn’t feel that I’m a top player.

“It’s a lot of expectations from you and a lot of people looking at you waiting [to see] what you are going to do next on your next tournament. But at the same time you are not treated as a top player because you didn’t get the points.

“So I would say that this period was not an easy one for sure.”

If there were any doubts over Rybakina’s status as one of the top players on the WTA Tour she has dispelled them this season.

She made the final of the Australian Open to start the year and has won two WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Rome.

“We did great preparation for this season and it was really good especially at the beginning, so I was like ‘Yes, for sure I can do it again’,” she said.

“Straight away at the Australian Open I played another final so that gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year.

“The season is long and you never know what can happen, I got sick many times this year, but these wins really give you some confidence and after I played the final of the Australian Open the doubts about if Wimbledon was luck or maybe it was special conditions which was why I won, it’s straight away disappeared.

“I am just hungry for more.”

During her Wimbledon run it was noted that she does not display as much emotion as many other top players.

Explaining why, she says: “I’m trying not to show emotions, I’m trying to be calm and not show if I’m upset or angry.

“Sometimes you need to show emotions. For me if I am not playing well and something is not going how I want it to be, I need to show the opponent I am still there and I am too fighting.

“Maybe other players are too angry on the court sometimes and need to work on being calmer, for me it’s kind of the opposite, which I think it is a bit rare.”