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Elena Rybakina will not be defending her Stuttgart Open crown as she is currently engaged in Billie Jean King Cup duties. The two tournaments are scheduled to be held in consecutive weeks and the Kazakh has chosen to play the team competition.
Speaking at a Billie Jean King Cup presser about her decision, which will see her lose 500 ranking points and drop out of the top-10 of the world rankings in the coming weeks, Rybakina gave a critical view of the Tour scheduling. While she was quick to note that the jam-packed calendar makes it difficult to make room for tournaments like the Billie Jean King Cup, the former Wimbledon champ said the planning could still be better.
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Rybakina, who flew to Australia for the Billie Jean King Cup tie schedule just ahead of the European clay swing, said the venues can be chosen in a manner that does not require players to travel from one part of the world to a far off location week in and week out.
"I know that the schedule overall is very packed, and it's not easy to even schedule Billie Jean King Cup." Elena Rybakina said. "But ideally, if we go to one part of the world, it will be nicer to play the same part. Now, for example, the clay court [season] starts and [some have] already played even tournaments on clay."
"So to come back and play hard, it's a bit tricky. And ideally, if there is a tournament, it's better to schedule it closer to where we want to be," she added.
The Kazakh, nonetheless, had positive words to say about the tournament in Stuttgart. She, however, noted that she cannot play every single tournament on the calendar before speaking about her liking for team competitions.
"I can't play all the tournaments," Elena Rybakina said. "Of course Stuttgart is nice, but I always like to play team competitions. It's nice to play for your country, so I'm happy to make this decision."
Elena Rybakina leads Kazakhstan to opening win at Billie Jean King Cup
Elena Rybakina helped Kazakhstan get off to a winning start at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers. She is leading the side alongwith Yulia Putintseva.
Pitted against Australia, Rybakina defeated Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 7-6(4) in the second rubber. Putintseva has earlier beaten Maya Joint 6-1 6-3, which meant that the side moved into an unassailable lead against the Australians.
Kazakhstan has landed in Group D of the qualification rounds alongside Australia and Colombia. They will take on the South American nation in their next tie.
