Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina wanted to quit tennis, reveals father
WTA
Elena Rybakina's father, Andrey Rybakin, recently revealed that she wanted to quit tennis before she finally succeeded on the biggest stage.
Rybakina had a brilliant start to the season already in 2020, but last year, her charge through the WTA Rankings stopped a bit before she showed all of her potential at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
The 23-year-old Kazakhstani player entered the 2022 Wimbledon Championships draw as 17th seed, and she probably didn't imagine herself with the champion's trophy two weeks later.
However, Rybakina played sensational tennis at the All England Club despite thinking about quitting tennis only a few months ago. In an interview with the Russian publication Sport Express, her father, Andrey Rybakin, opened up about what tennis players go through.
"When she was little, she once said to her grandfather the following phrase: 'I want to be the first!' And she goes to this goal. Time will tell. It seems to me that she should still surprise everyone with her game."
In the interview, Rybakin admitted that only six months ago, his daughter considered quitting tennis, which would have been really unfortunate, given her sensational triumph in London this year.
"It's good that she is now lowered to the ground. She understands everything perfectly and tries. Now she is definitely not going to quit tennis, although she had such moments six months ago."
Rybakina also admitted that this is not something exclusive to his daughter. Many tennis players struggle to find the motivation to keep going, even though it might not be talked about too often.
"Many tennis players go through this. It happens that you put maximum efforts, but there is no exhaust. Even just before Wimbledon, it was like that."
"She could not stand it, she left the competition, we talked with her in the family for five or six days. My daughter calmed down and began to train again."
