"Didn't expect coming here to be in the final" - Elena Rybakina upbeat despite Miami Open final loss to Danielle Collins in illness-hit run

Elena Rybakina finished as the runner-up at the Miami Open for the second year in a row, falling to Danielle Collins in the final of the 2024 edition on Saturday.

After losing to Petra Kvitova 6-7, 2-6 in the final last year, the World No. 4 lost in straight sets once again -- a 5-7, 3-6 loss that lasted a little over two hours. Despite the result, however, Rybakina remained upbeat, especially considering the circumstances that led up to her runner-up finish.

Last fortnight, the former Wimbledon champ had to withdraw from Indian Wells due to an illness, and lost out on the chance to defend her title at the WTA 1000 event. These past two weeks in Miami, Elena Rybakina was still in pain, even opting to skip practice during her off days in order to manage her work load.

"Yeah, unfortunately it was long. It was like eight days without anything and then I had nothing. No no, honestly, no fitness, no tennis. So it was tough to come back. I'm. I'm still in pain after all these matches, but, I feel I'm feeling better and hopefully this extra day, which we have in between, helps," Rybakina had said.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony after the loss against Collins, Rybakina admitted that she and her team did not expect to reach the final in light of all that, and were pleasantly surprised by her run to the final and the fight she put up along the way.

The Kazakh credited the fans in Miami for giving her the energy to pull it off, and went on to congratulate Danielle Collins on her win. Collins' win marked her first WTA 1000 title and only her third WTA Tour title, coming in the final year of her career on the tour.

"Second year and it's a final, it's a great result, some consistency, so thank you so much team. We didn't expect coming here to be in the final, to be honest, but it was a great two weeks, a lot of tough matches, great battles. And thank you so much to the fans for their support throughout these two weeks. It was really amazing and you give energy, you give fighting in all these tough matches," Elena Rybakina said.

"Of course I want to congratulate Danielle with the great two weeks, great matches. You played here great tennis, for sure. Of course your team also," she added.

To Rybakina's credit, four of her five matches before the final went to three sets, with the 24-year-old beating the likes of Maria Sakkari, Taylor Townsend and Victoria Azarenka.

Elena Rybakina: "It's not easy to lose in the final, but in the end, in the long run, I think it's still a great achievement"

Elena Rybakina at the Miami Open 2024 - Day 15

Speaking at her press conference after the loss against Collins, Elena Rybakina compared her defeat in the Miami Open final last year to this year, stating that they were two "completely different" situations. For starters, she was going for the Sunshine Double in 2023, a pursuit in which she fell painfully short by just one win.

This year, the Kazakh was glad that she got to play a couple of good matches in the run-up to the final, and considered her runner-up result to be a "great achievement" despite the bitter feeling of falling at the last hurdle.

"I think it's different, but it's just completely different situation. Last year I was coming from Indian Wells, and I knew to make Sunshine Double, everybody says it's very difficult and with difficult conditions, big change from Indian Wells coming to Miami, so I was there also focusing match by match," Elena Rybakina said.

"Here I was happy with two good matches, and then again I came to the final. So pretty much I wouldn't say disappointing. I think last year and this year, it's good result. Of course it's not easy to lose in the final, but in the end, in the long run, I think it's still a great achievement," she added.