Elena Rybakina has been world No. 1 since the US Open. Then Beijing: beaten in her first match. Wuhan: withdrew. And now she is in Ningbo, a WTA 500, where on 19 October she said her season, “even though it has been crowned with success, has also been very long”.
I understand. Really. My season has been very long too, and not crowned with anything. My season really starts in May, and by October I feel like I’ve played three years. People only see the ranking. They don’t see court 4, the strip light, the crushed brick that sticks when it’s tipping it down.
What interests me, technically, is her management. First-match defeat, then a withdrawal, then a return to a tournament where she has very good memories. It’s a pattern. I do the same: after a defeat I skip a Sunday, and I come back to the club where I won a set in 2023. Same intentions. The scale differs slightly.
She says the most important thing is to finish the season as world No. 1. For me, the most important thing is to finish the season C30.4 (a club-level ranking), and no lower. The AFT ranking (the French-speaking Belgian federation’s) comes out in January, like a verdict. She, at least, knows hers.
Céline, she’s number one. You, you’ve been ranked C30.4 since when, again?
Temporarily, Jean-Pol. And I’ll remind you I reached C15.5 before the tendinitis. Rybakina has two weeks to give it everything. I have Tuesday evening, when court 4 is free, meaning never. Two practice sessions away, mind you.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
