Elena Rybakina sends surprise birthday message to her father after helping Kazakhstan to United Cup 2025 quarterfinals

Elena Rybakina sent her father Andrey Rybakin a surprise birthday message after helping Kazakhstan to the quarterfinals of the 2025 United Cup on Monday, December 30. The World No. 6 wished Andrey during her post-match interview in Perth's RAC Arena.

Rybakina got the better of Greece's Maria Sakkari in the second match of the Group C tie. She overcame Sakkari 6-4, 6-3 in 84 minutes on the back of seven aces and three break-point conversions. Her win meant Kazakhstan qualified for the last eight as Alexander Shevchenko had already scored a surprise win over World No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas, beating the Greek 6-4, 7-6(0).

Following her win, Rybakina answered a couple of questions on the court and congratulated her father before going off-air. Her words in Russian translate as "happy birthday!"

Rybakina was raised by her parents Andrey and Ekaterina in Moscow until she moved to Kazakhstan in 2018.

Following the 2022 Wimbledon champion's match, the Kazakh pair of Zhibek Kulambayeva and Aleksandr Nedovyesov teamed up to down Despina Papamichail and Petros Tsitsipas 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 to complete a clean sweep.

---

"A really positive match for me" - Elena Rybakina after beating Maria Sakkari

Elena Rybakina in action at the 2025 United Cup. (Getty)

Elena Rybakina praised the team's collective effort to defeat No. 3 seed Greece on Monday at the 2025 United Cup. Alexander Shevchenko received special mention from the WTA star, who said,

"Really excited and super happy for the team. Everybody tried hard, Sasha in singles. Today was a tough match for me also, but I'm really happy to be through to the quarterfinals."

Notably, Rybakina looked to be cruising toward a victory as she went a set and 5-0 up but Maria Sakkari staged a mini comeback and reduced her opponent's lead to 5-3, saving a match point in the process. The Kazakh, however, kept her calm and finished the match in the ninth game of the second set after Sakkari mishit an overhead on the third match point.

Rybakina added,

"I know when it's 5-0 it's a little bit nothing to lose for the opponent. She started to play more aggressively and some good shots from her. A little bit lucky on the match point but a really positive match for me,"

Consequently, Kazakhstan clinched the top position in Group A standings, having defeated Spain 2-1 earlier at the United Cup, with Elena Rybakina beating Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-2, 6-3 in the women's singles battle.