The WTA may have confirmed that Elena Rybakina will compete at the WTA Finals despite the Kazakh having a very rough last two months under some mysterious circumstances.
Since abruptly ending her five-year partnership with coach Stefano Vukov just after they arrived at the US Open, the world No. 5 won her opener at Flushing Meadows. But then, she pulled out of her second-round match and also withdrew from her next three scheduled tournaments.
While there have been some pretty shocking claims about Rybakina’s split with Vukov, a back injury was listed as the cause for her withdrawals from Seoul, Beijing and Wuhan.
Naturally, all of that raised some major concerns that her appearance at the season-ending tournament may be in major jeopardy as well. But after the 2022 Wimbledon winner officially booked a place at the WTA Finals, the WTA posted a Rybakina highlight and captioned the post: “Ice in her veins. Get ready for Elena Rybakina’s cool demeanor at the #WTAFinalsRiyadh in November!”
The inaugural edition of the season-ending tournament taking place in Riyadh will start on November 2nd and run through the 9th of that month.
A Russian tennis insider made a shocking revelation about Rybakina’s health struggles
Since the US Open, the 25-year-old hasn’t given any interviews or made any public comments except a statement she provided to the WTA when it was confirmed that she was out of Beijing and Wuhan.
“Due to an ongoing back injury, I regretfully have to withdraw from the upcoming Asian tournaments. While I’ve been working hard on my recovery, my medical team and I have decided it’s best to prioritize my health at this time. This has been a challenging year and I am grateful for the support from the tournament organizers and all of my fans. My team and I will work on getting me back on the court before the season finale,” she said in the statement.
Just as some were wondering how and when the back injury occurred, tennis insider Sofya Tartakova claimed that spoke with someone close to the Kazakh and that her injuries and illnesses were “all psychosomatic” and that her ex-coach Vukov was to blame for that.
“Many people do not understand the reason for such health problems. They said that she is having difficulties, back problems. This is the official reason. Then, that during this year she had problems with her stomach. But as people who did not work with her, but were involved in her professional career, say, she is now under a lot of stress and it is all psychosomatic. She is now in a completely disorganized state, she cannot play,” Tartakova said during a conversation for YouTube channel Tennis Bolshei.
Tartakova: Rybakina was constantly pressured and insulted, she’s trying to heal
There were a couple of reasons why the Kazakh’s split with Vukov was so baffling: they arrived together at the US Open – she defended him numerous times in the past – a top player just doesn’t make such a huge change three days before the start of a Slam. But according to Tartakova, there was a reason because she was constantly dealing with “Insults and bad words,” which led to her parents stepping up to end that “vicious circle.”
“Elena Rybakina’s parents stood up for her, because she could not break this vicious circle. On the one hand, this is the coach who worked with her since she was 17, and she herself, together with her family, chose him. On the other hand, it is clear that they were very close, she won the main achievements of her career thanks to their joint work, and her parents insisted that Lena change something in her tennis life, because there was pressure, and insults, and bad words said to her. They were constantly from Vukov’s lips,” the insider claimed.
After explaining what allegedly the 25-year-old endured in that partnership, Tartakova also shared that the 2022 Wimbledon winner was taking some time away for herself to heal and recover.
“And now Elena is suffering and trying to get rid of psychological problems, so the situation is, of course, very difficult for her, but we’ll see. I tried to find out if there is official information that he is banned from the WTA tour, because we discussed this several months ago, that a report was allegedly written on him and he was suspended from work,” Tartakova said.
A week ago, Rybakina posted on Instagram some photos taken in Kazakhstan’s nature, which showed that she was indeed back home and taking some time for herself.
If she indeed competes at the WTA Finals, it will be her second appearance at the event. Last year, Rybakina didn’t manage to make it past the group stage at the season-ending tournament.