It isn’t even March and one name is sweeping through women’s tennis.
Monday saw Elena Rybakina debut in the top 20 at 19 in the world after a quite incredible beginning to 2020 which is getting better and better!
Twelve months ago the age of 19 the teenager was ranked at 193 in the world and has been on a meteoric rise to the top of 20 in women’s tennis since then.
Her game is so strong, she serves well and the velocity she hits the forehand and backhand off is quite scary! The only issue I do find is with her movement at the back of the court but she has the reach to prolong rallies and keep things interesting and asking extra questions of opponents.
Elena has already won more main draw WTA matches in 2020 (17) than she did in 2019 (12). Her season came to an end with a good run in Wuhan where she made the quarter finals of the Premier 5 event and this year has gone onto do incredible things:
Shenzhen Open – Runner Up
On route to the final she saw off: Saisai Zheng, Wang, Elise Mertens and Kristyna Pliskova before falling 2-6 4-6 to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final.
Hobart – Champion
For the second week running the 20 year old was in a final but this time won against Zhang. Earlier on she took out Alize Cornet and in the semi-finals won a tight three set match against Heather Watson.
Australian Open – Third Round
Elena came through her first two matches unscathed against Pera and Minnen without dropping a set but couldn’t find that rhythm against the world number one losing 3-6 2-6 in her main draw debut in Melbourne.
St. Petersburg – Runner Up
Another week, another final. This time in Russia. Rybakina was born in Moscow and until 2018 when she changed her alliance to Kazakhstan.
Elena was outplayed in the final but an in-form Kiki Bertens but had some impressive wins against Dodin and Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals to make her third final of 2020.
Her game is pretty solid. She is good at guiding her forehand around the court and can be explosive off her backhand. Watching her play on the baseline and the way she strikes the ball reminds me of Daniil Medvedev.
Dubai
Elena is currently in Dubai and was the first player into the semi-finals of the first Premier 5 event of the year.
The Kazakhstani has once again taken the week by storm.
In her first WTA match since winning the Australian Open the 20 year old took out Sofia Kenin 6-7 6-3 6-2. Her place in the quarter finals was confirmed with a 6-3 6-3 win against Siniakova and her third top 10 win of the year this time against Karolina Pliskova with some impressive hitting especially off her backhand has secured another big ending to the week for the youngest player left in the draw.
image credit/source – DDFTennis Twitter Account
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