Elena Rybakina will now play two tuneup events in the build to the 2024 Australian Open after her participation at the Adelaide International was confirmed by the tournament.
The news of Rybakina's involvement at the WTA 500 event couldn't have been more timely for incoming tournament director Alicia Molik. The former Australian tennis player served as the country's Billie Jean King Cup captain for a decade and left that role at this year's Finals.
Rybakina is the first marquee WTA player who has chosen to play in this tournament in 2024, which will run from January 8 to 13. Historically, she has played her best tennis Down Under, winning one of her five career singles titles on Australian soil (2019 Hobart).
The 24-year-old was also a runner-up at the Adelaide International in 2022 where she lost to Ashleigh Barty. She came up short in her second Grand Slam final at the 2023 Australian Open to Aryna Sabalenka. All these results underline Rybakina's credentials in this part of the world.
In 2023, Rybakina played in two editions of the Adelaide International, but performed modestly in singles, losing in the second round to Marta Kostyuk in Adelaide 1, and had the misfortune of facing two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova in the first round of Adelaide 2.
However, she made up for her early exits in singles by reaching the Adelaide 2 final in doubles together with Ansastia Pavlyuchenkova. Playing these warm-up tournaments and doing well is critical for Rybakina's chances of excelling at next year's Australian Open.
The Adelaide International isn't Rybakina's only warm-up event in the build-up to the year's first major. She is set to kick off her 2024 campaign in Brisbane where she is part of a star-studded lineup at the first WTA 500 event of the season in which World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka will play.
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