Elena Rybakina says she is still dealing with the aftereffects of a virus that forced her to pull out of the French Open.
The world No.3 reached the third round at Roland Garros before being forced to pull out of her clash against Sara Sorribes Tormo due to illness. Three weeks have passed since then but she is yet to regain her best form. An ominous sign from Rybakina who is the defending champion at Wimbledon which will begin a week tomorrow.
“It’s been tough actually,” The Express quoted Rybakina as saying on Sunday. “At the French Open after I withdrew I went back to the hotel and it was even worse so I had to stay in Paris for a few days not leaving the room.”
On the grass, the 24-year-old started her campaign last week in Berlin with a first round win over qualifier Polina Kudmertova. However, she then lost her next match to Donna Vekic after getting edged out 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4, by the Croat.
“I started my preparation week after just slowly starting and it was tough since it was a virus,” she continued.
“So I still think that I’m not 100 per cent physically where I want to be but slowly it’s getting better and hopefully I can get some more matches here and feel more comfortable at Wimbledon.”
Rybakina rose to prominence at Wimbledon 12 months ago with a fairytale run to the title. At the time she was the 17th seed in the draw and had never gone beyond the quarter-final of a major event. However, she produced back-to-back wins over former champion Simona Halep and One Jabeur en route to the title.
The upcoming Rothesay International in Eastbourne will be the last event where Rybakina can tune up her game ahead of Wimbledon. She is the highest-ranked player in this year’s field which also features Caroline Garcia, Jessica Pegula and Jabeur.
Regardless of what happens in Eastbourne, Rybakina says she is taking everything in her stride heading into the grasscourt major.
“It’s the first time and it’s a new challenge for me to come as a defending champion and everybody saying like I’m kind of the favourite so it is different,” she said. “But the goals are the same and I’m trying just to really enjoy and having all this experience from last year to actually help me to perform this year so yeah, the goals are the same it’s just maybe a different attitude a bit to the tournament.”
Rybakina will play a qualifier in the first round at Eastbourne.
