Russian-born Elena Rybakina wins it for Kazakhstan

It was as if she’d won the first round. As Ons Jabeur’s backhand drifted wide, Elena Rybakina simply smiled and glanced at her box. A handshake at the net, a few claps and a wave to the crowd was all that was to come from the subdued celebrations.

It was only after a couple of minutes that the 23-year-old’s actions matched the accomplishment. Rybakina got up from her chair and climbed towards her box, hugging members of her team, sister and the president of Kazakhstan’s tennis federation.

More like a freshly crowned Wimbledon champion.

As Rybakina is, the world No 23 engineering a gritty turnaround against the second-ranked Tunisian to win the women’s singles final 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday. Rybakina is the first Grand Slam winner from Kazakhstan, having switched nationality from Russia in 2018 due to better financial support from the Kazakh association.

Thus the Moscow-born, in a tournament that banned Russian and Belarusian players after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, received the Venus Rosewater dish from the Duchess of Cambridge on Centre Court.

“I’m actually speechless,” Rybakina deadpanned. “I was super nervous before and during the match. I’m happy that it finished, honestly. I’ve never felt something like this.”

Understandable, given this was only her second main draw appearance at Wimbledon after a fourth-round loss last year. Rybakina’s rise in the professional circuit has been equally steep, though glimpses of her immense potential came early.

In one of her first appearances on the WTA tour, Rybakina, ranked 450th, beat the then world No 7 Caroline Garcia in the Round of 16 at the 2018 St Petersburg event. It was only after completing school that Rybakina, whose idols are Roger Federer and Justine Henin, decided to immerse in the sport.

After the federation switch, Rybakina started working full time with current coach Stefano Vukov, the former Croatian player, in 2019. The impact was instant. A career-best season, WTA title in Bucharest and zoom to end the year as world No 36 (from 175th at 2018 end) followed. She beat Serena Williams in last year’s French Open to enter her maiden Slam quarter-final, a bar she felt was too high for this Wimbledon.

“I didn’t expect that I’m going to be in the second week,” Rybakina said. “To be the winner is honestly amazing.”

So has her tennis been for the last two weeks. Rybakina’s strong serve, with a tournament-leading 49 aces in the first six matches, and power game, were too hot for even the 2019 winner Simona Halep to handle in the semi-final.

As if to set the template for the intriguing duel of contrasting styles, Rybakina raised the curtain on the final with a big unreturned serve. Jabeur, the first Arab woman playing at this stage, was doing her thing: taking the pace off the ball, chipping and slicing to offset Rybakina’s play. The Tunisian found success, a chipped forehand giving her a break chance, which was converted due to a Rybakina backhand error in the third game.

The world No 2 was not only countering Rybakina’s serves with quality returns but also serving solid. At 3-2, 30-30, Jabeur fired an unreturnable serve down the T. In fact, it was Jabeur who had better numbers across the service parameters in the first set: aces (2 to 0), first serve in (75% to 58%), points won on first serve (80% to 53%) and second (80% to 50%). Her biggest weapon neutralised, Rybakina’s errors were all the more glaring. A wayward forehand to back up a double fault in the ninth game gave Jabeur three set points, which she converted at the first time of asking.

But as she stood to receive serve to begin the second set, Rybakina activated the mode that saw her drop just one set before the final. She cranked a forehand up-the-line winner while also winning a backhand slicing battle to break in the first game. Jabeur continued to put pressure on the Rybakina serve—she won none of the four break points in the set—but the Kazakh’s improved serve and incisive winners pulled her out of trouble.

As winners flew from Rybakina’s racquet—they nearly doubled to 13 in the second set—Jabeur’s body language displayed frustration. The rattled Tunisian dished out errors of her own as a long forehand widened the gap to 5-2. Fittingly, Rybakina sealed the set with an ace and a hold to love.

By now, Rybakina was dictating the rallies as well as standing up to Jabeur’s variety with aplomb; a brilliant response to Jabeur’s drop shot and volley got her into the lead nice and early again in the deciding set. The Tunisian’s touch—the drops and lobs feeling heavier—went missing. It returned briefly in the sixth game where Jabeur had three break points, only for Rybakina to save them with big first serves and bigger groundstrokes.

That crucial hold meant there was to be no final twist to the tale, scripted oh-so-nonchalantly by the first-time finalist.