Elena Rybakina: I have all the chances to win a Grand Slam on any surface
Elena Rybakina has claimed the eighth title of her career at the Stuttgart Open, with the Kazakhstani revealing that she backs herself to challenge at all four majors.
Rybakina beat Marta Kostyuk, 6-2 6-2, in the final to claim her third title of the season at the indoor clay court tournament.
This backed up her semi-final victory over world No.1 Iga Swiatek, ending the Pole’s 10-match unbeaten run at the WTA 500 tournament.
With Rybakina having titles on every surface, the 24-year-old was asked about whether she saw herself as a contender for all the Grand Slam tournaments.
“I always believe in myself, of course, but it not only depends on me,” said Rybakina. “There are a lot of great players, tough opponents. But I know if I feel fresh, if I’m physically ready, healthy, I’m playing my game, of course I have all the chances to win a Grand Slam on any surface.”
Rybakina is currently second in the race to the WTA Finals, despite struggling with illness in recent months causing her to withdraw from Indian Wells.
The No.4 spoke about how she has managed the packed schedule and transition from hard courts to clay, “I’m really happy with all the matches I played here throughout the week, especially in the final, [it] was very solid from me.”
She continued, “I think just the consistency, of course, and how I’m managing to play all these tournaments until the end, because it’s really tough with the schedule we have, with all the jet lags and changes of the surface.
“It’s been a lot of matches, and I’m happy that for now I’m managing to fight through all these tough matches and be able to be in the finals.”
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Rybakina will look to continue her impressive start to the clay court season in Madrid, where she has never surpassed the third round before, and will await either Lucia Bronzetti or a qualifier after receiving a bye to the second round as the fourth seed.
Inside the baseline…
Elena Rybakina has really proved herself as an all-court player over the past year, having won the WTA 1000 event in Rome and has now come through a packed field in Stuttgart. It will be interesting to see whether Rybakina will be able to produce this sort of level at Roland Garros, where she has a best result of reaching the quarter-final, but it appears that she certainly has the belief to better this.
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