Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina shrugged off having to play Monday’s Australian Open first spherical match on an outer court docket at Melbourne Park, saying she didn’t care the place she competed so long as she will cap it off with confidence-boosting wins.
The Russian-born Kazakh received simply that on court docket 13 with a 7-5, 6-3 victory Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the runner-up finally week’s Hobart International and stated she had no downside being away from the highlight.
Men’s and ladies’s governing our bodies the ATP and WTA stripped Wimbledon of rating factors after its organisers determined to ban Russian and Belarusian gamers within the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
That meant Rybakina misplaced out on 2,000 rating factors after she defeated Ons Jabeur within the Wimbledon closing and the prospect to climb from 25 into the highest 10, which might have doubtlessly seen her start her Melbourne marketing campaign on one of many present courts.
“Of course if I think about Wimbledon it was great and it gave me confidence but it was special conditions there and maybe I didn’t the benefit which Grand Slam champions normally get,” twenty second seed Rybakina informed reporters.
“But I don’t really care and I just want to compete, I want to win. No matter which court I play on, it’s great to be here. It doesn’t matter (where I play next). Hopefully I can keep on winning and every match brings me confidence.”
Rybakina, who beforehand stated she doesn’t really feel just like the Wimbledon champion, subsequent faces Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan.
RELATED AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023 COVERAGE