"Elena Rybakina was a bit dramatic about it" - Not receiving a bye 'not the worst thing in the world,' says analyst amid performance byes controversy

Elena Rybakina recently voiced her displeasure about the WTA giving performance byes at the 2023 Japan Open without prior notice. Renowned tennis analyst Gill Gross has now weighed in on the controversial rule.

World No. 5 Elena Rybakina’s draw at the Japan Open was affected after World No. 6 Maria Sakkari became the champion and World No. 10 Caroline Garcia reached the semifinals of the preceding tournament - the WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open.

Rybakina, who was initially expected to receive an opening-round bye as the third-highest-ranked player in the draw, was stripped of the opportunity due to the implementation of performance byes, which granted Garcia and Sakkari the spots.

Rybakina, who ultimately withdrew from the tournament due to physical issues, denounced the WTA over the byes. The Kazakh revealed that she was not made aware of the rule beforehand.

Gross shared his opinion about the same on his podcast, Monday Match Analysis. He called Rybakina’s response to the situation ‘dramatic.’

“Elena Rybakina was a bit upset; a bit dramatic about it. I mean, at the end of the day, if you’re super upset about performance byes, you’ve got to look at what is the punishment here. If you are a player who would be a top four seed or a top eight seed, all you gotta do is play a first-round match, right? It’s not the worst thing in the world. Doesn’t really cost you anything,” he said.

Gross, however, sided with Rybakina over the WTA’s lack of clarity and proper notification about the use of performance byes ahead of the event.

“But also, I don’t blame Elena for not knowing, and it should have been communicated to her. Communication on tour is really bad. There’s not a lot of it. We know that,” he said.

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"If you're in Elena Rybakina's shoes, you're expecting to get a bye and suddenly you don't have one" – Gill Gross

Elena Rybakina at the 2023 US Open

The tennis analyst stressed that a prior intimation about the rule in place during the Asian swing was necessary for a young player like Elena Rybakina. Gill Gross reasoned that this is the first year since 2019 that the full Asian swing is being played.

“You’re a young player, alright? Performance byes in the Asian swing have been for a long, long, long time, but there hasn’t been any Asian swing since 2019, so it’s really understandable that if you’re in Rybakina’s shoes, you show up and you’re expecting to get a bye and suddenly you don’t have one and you’re taken by surprise,” he added.

Apart from Rybakina’s complaint about the delayed communication, Gross also questioned the rule's inconsistency. The performances byes are in place during the Asian swing. However, a majority of the tournaments throughout the year resort to byes based on players’ rankings.

“Elena aside, I just don’t see any reason for the inconsistency of it. That’s what I hate. How could this kind of thing just pop up at one part of the calendar? It should either be how it works or not. I hate the inconsistency of it,” Gross admitted.