Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina may have suffered an early exit at the 2024 Australian Open, but the former finalist seems to have put that behind her as she made her return to the practice courts.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion fell in three sets to Russian Anna Blinkova in the second round of the Melbourne Major, losing the third set tiebreaker in heartbreaking fashion. Both ladies set the record for the longest tiebreak played in Grand Slam history, with Blinkova prevailing 6-4 4-6 7-6(20) as she finally closed out the match on her 10th match point.
Rybakina to participate in Middle East Swing
The World No.5 may have seen her Australian Open campaign come to an end, but she appears ready to tackle the upcoming WTA events in the Middle East. Rybakina, known for her powerful groundstrokes, took to social media to post some video footage of herself practicing with ATP counterpart, Karen Khachanov, who is known for hitting some pretty big groundstrokes himself.
“What a session!!!”, wrote Rybakina, as the video showed her exchanging groundstrokes with Khachanov.
Elena Rybakina practicing with Karen Khachanov today. pic.twitter.com/bGWoiKEH3x
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 2, 2024