Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina wanted to quit tennis, reveals father

Elena Rybakina had a brilliant start of 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.

The 23-years-old Kazakh entered the 2022 Wimbledon draw as 17th-seeded and she probably didn't imagine herself with a champion's trophy two weeks later. However, Elena Rybakina played sensational tennis in the All England Club, despite thinking about quitting tennis only a few months ago. In an interview with Russian newspaper Sport Express, her father, Andrey Rybakin opened up about what tennis players go through, when he said:

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"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. 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," Rybakin said.

"Many tennis players go through this," Rybakin said. "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."

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