"I'm not in agreement with that phrasing" - Rybakina pushes back Wimbledon triumph narratives from Russia
WTA
Elena Rybakina won the biggest trophy of her career at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships by beating Ons Jabeur in the final, yet it's not the main story.
Unfortunately for Rybakina, the place where she was born is a bigger topic for most than her brilliant play at Wimbledon. She played consistent tennis and deservedly ended up with the Wimbledon trophy.
However, her triumph was not portrayed in the way she had hoped. Even at the press conference, Rybakina was grilled hard by some of the journalists who wanted her to slip up and say something wrong.
Being a Russian and playing for Kazakhstan is complicated enough, let alone winning Wimbledon in the year of the ban of Russian and Belarusian players from the competition.
Things did not go much better for her after the press conference, as several important figures from Russian tennis seemingly took credit for Rybakina's triumph at Wimbledon, even calling her a Russian product.
The biggest moment of her life was turned into a propaganda tool dehumanizing her down to 'a product'. As expected, she was greeted by many fans when she returned to Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan, where reporters once again asked the wrong type of questions.
She was asked about the comments from Russian tennis officials, and as expected, she pushed back on the topic, saying that she didn't agree with the phrasing, which branded her as a product of the Russian tennis.
"The transition from a junior to a professional career is very difficult. A good team is needed. Not everyone is able to continue at a professional level and achieve some success."— Rybakina on Russian product comment<br>
"Only a small number (can) and in this way I am very lucky. So I am of course not really in agreement with that phrasing."
