ITF

12 Summer 2022 ITF World ELENA RYBAKINA The Finals, which are the climax of the women's World Cup of Tennis, will see the finest 12 teams on the planet take to the hard courts of the Emirates Arena from 8 to 13 November with a thirst for the thrills of victory. Rybakina experienced such a sensation in April after starring for Kazakhstan as they secured their Finals place by defeating Germany in a Qualifier clash in Nur-Sultan. Having performed her national service with distinction on that occasion, Rybakina wants more. "It was so special to represent Kazakhstan in a home tie as the support was incredible and I have never previously played when the whole stadium was cheering for me," Rybakina told ITFWorld. "It was a great experience and I just want another opportunity. "The Finals will be a great experience for all of us. For me, it will be my first Finals and it will be Kazakhstan's first also, so it is a week that I am looking forward to and hopefully it will be a week full of good matches which bring out the best in us." Now, back to that magical Wimbledon fortnight when Rybakina hit the global headlines. In truth, she was relentless in her pursuit of silverware and after recovering from a set down in the final against Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, her achievements were rightly lauded and celebrated. In defeating Jabeur, Rybakina also secured a little piece of history by becoming the first player representing Kazakhstan to be crowned a Grand Slam champion, while she is also the youngest women's winner at Wimbledon since Petra Kvitova in 2011. "It was a great achievement, and I am very proud with what I achieved," said Rybakina, who failed to hit such heights at this month's US Open after crashing to defeat in the first round against former junior world No. 1 and ITF World Champion Clara Burel. "It's always nice to hear people refer to me as the Wimbledon champion and a Grand Slam champion, and to hear all the nice things that people say. I am sure that when I go back to Wimbledon, it will be so special. "I am also sure that in the years ahead, I am going to appreciate the moment I won Wimbledon even more. But because I still have goals, I am just trying to keep going and not just focus on what happened six weeks ago. "Nevertheless, those two weeks at Wimbledon gave me a lot of confidence and I learnt a lot about how to manage emotions – there were just a lot of good experiences for me. I hope to carry that forward to my next tournaments and hope it's good for my career. "I am working hard and having won a Grand Slam, of course I now want to win others and push towards that No. 1 spot. That is the aim and what I am working for." In the days following her Wimbledon triumph, Moscow-born Rybakina, who switched allegiances to Kazakhstan in 2018, received a rapturous homecoming amid hordes of fans at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport. Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Yeraly Tugzhanov was on hand to convey the congratulations of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, while Rybakina was awarded the Order of Friendship by the Kazakh government. "When I started to represent Kazakhstan, nobody knew how it was going to be," added Rybakina. "I am super-happy that in the end everything happened in this way – it was a very important decision for me. "When I went back to Kazakhstan after Wimbledon, many people met me and it was a huge celebration. At the beginning, I didn't expect this because everything was kind of new in this moment, but it was really nice to spend a few days there. "Now I feel that I am getting more attention and more obligations, which is something I am getting used to but is okay. With the support of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation and its President, Bulat Utemuratov, it was our win together."

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