"I didn't feel that I am a top player" - Elena Rybakina on not getting any ranking points after Wimbledon 2022 win

Elena Rybakina recently shed light on how she felt after not receiving the ranking points from her title win at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

Rybakina became Kazakhstan's first Grand Slam singles champion with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Ons Jabeur in the championship match at SW19. The-then 23-year-old also became the youngest woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish since the 21-year-old Petra Kvitova in 2011.

However, the Kazakh did not receive any ranking points despite her historic victory. The points were stripped off ahead of the tournament as the All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Elena Rybakina recently appeared on the Mind Set Win podcast and discussed how difficult it was for her to overcome this not-so-easy phase since she didn't feel like a 'top player' in big tournaments and even dropped to 25th in the world due to the points not being rewarded.

"It was not easy to overcome this win because, of course, after winning the title, you are like 'Wow, I hope it was not just by mistake, or by luck or whatever it is'. In my case, it was a bit different that I didn't get the point, so on the rest of the tournaments and another big Grand Slam, I didn't feel that I am a top player," Rybakina said. (From 13:40)

"It's a lot of expectations from you and a lot of people looking at you waiting that what you are gonna do next on your next tournament. But at the same time, you are not treated as a top player because you didn't get the points. So I would say that this period was not an easy one for sure," she added.

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Elena Rybakina won two WTA 1000 titles in 2023

Elena Ryvbakina pictured at the 2023 China Open

Elena Rybakina has won two WTA 1000 titles in 2023, one at Indian Wells and the other one at the Italian Open.

Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(11), 6-4 in the Indian Wells final in a rematch of the duo's 2023 Australian Open encounter where the Belarusian defeated the Kazakh to win the title.

The World No. 5 then won the Italian Open, her second WTA 1000 title of 2023, after her Ukrainian opponent Anhelina Kalinina was forced to retire with a suspected left leg injury while down 4-6, 0-1.

As a result of her heroics in the 2023 season, Elena Rybakina became the first Kazakh athlete and the third player to qualify for the WTA Finals, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 to November 5.