The odd scheduling choice of not putting the reigning Wimbledon champion in a major stadium, however, has not been completely lost on tennis fans — some of whom have criticized the organizers for sidelining the 23-year-old and her ilk.
For Elena Rybakina, though, it hardly makes a difference as to where she is playing as long as she keeps progressing and showing good tennis.
Responding to a question about the scheduling at the Australian Open in her third-round post-match press conference, Rybakina admitted that things haven’t always been easy when it comes to balancing her newfound status as Grand Slam champion. At the same time, she added that she did not pay too much attention to which court she was being made to play on.
Instead, the Kazakh took the lack of media spotlight as inspiration to keep on winning, joking that maybe if she kept at it long enough, tournaments would acknowledge her as a Grand Slam champion and put her on the main courts more often.
Rybakina battled into the fourth round on Friday, getting the better of last year’s finalist Danielle Collins in a marathon tussle out on the Kia Arena. The Kazakh, who is the 22nd seed, prevailed 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“The goal is to beat the top players” - Elena Rybakina on facing Iga Swiatek next
Shifting focus to the task at hand, Elena Rybakina stated in no uncertain terms that she was excited to play the World No. 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open.
The Kazakh revealed that her goal has always been to beat the best players in the world and that the match against Swiatek presented her with an opportunity to try and accomplish just that.
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