Elena Rybakina abandoned her WTA match in Berlin against Victoria Azarenka after serving in the fifth game of the first set. They were only 20 minutes long (1-3) and the concern becomes tangible in the face of the proximity with Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam it has in its showcase (2022).
Minutes later, the WTA gave the official reason for the withdrawal on social media. The Kazakh was unable to continue with her quarterfinal duel due to abdominal pain.
Until then, an imponderable. The issue is a bit “malice” if one takes into account that, in just over a year, the Kazakh (champion in Brisbane, Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart in 2024) He retired in seven! tournaments, without counting the casualties just before starting an event.
Even in a press conference held in Rome, he had already stated that the number of two-week tournaments did not help the professionals’ physique at all: “It exhausts the protagonists physically and mentally, so there is a lot to improve on the circuit. “Before, two-week tournaments in Indian Wells or Miami were fine, but doing Madrid and Rome was also long, and then you have the French Open.”
