Elena Rybakina’s form over the past two months has been patchy to say the least.
Rybakina began the year in excellent form – winning the Australian Open.
However, since reaching the Indian Wells final in March, Rybakina has endured a plethora of early exits at significant WTA Tour events.
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In recent months, the Kazakhstani star has been beaten by the likes of Yuliia Starodubtseva, Katie Boulter, and Elise Mertens.
If Rybakina has any hope of winning the US Open later this year, she must improve one particular area of her game that has consistently let her down in recent matches.
Elena Rybakina must improve her first-serve percentage to win the US Open
One area of Rybakina’s game stands out as a weakness when analysing her recent losses.
That area is her first serve.
The 28-year-old is not landing enough first serves during her matches, resulting in her opponents having a great number of opportunities to make inroads in her service games.
In her last six defeats on the Tour, Rybakina has recorded a first-serve percentage of over 60 just once.
She has also struggled during victories, landing 43 per cent of her first serves against Veronika Erjavec in Paris and 54.5 versus Caty McNally at Wimbledon.
| Tournament | Opponent | First-serve % |
| Madrid Open | Anastasia Potapova | 55 |
| Italian Open | Elina Svitolina | 55.1 |
| Roland Garros | Yuliia Starodubtseva | 53 |
| Queen’s | Katie Boulter | 52 |
| Berlin Open | Alexandra Eala | 60.9 |
| Wimbledon | Elise Mertens | 42.1 |
Rybakina’s first serve is such a crucial factor in her success; as demonstrated by her status as the ace leader on the WTA Tour.
If Rybakina cannot remedy her serving struggles ahead of the US Open, it is unlikely that she will be a serious contender for the title.
Elena Rybakina bemoaned her serving struggles at Wimbledon
Earlier this month, Rybakina was stunned in the Wimbledon third round by 25th seed Elise Mertens.
Rybakina struggled on serve throughout the contest, hitting six double faults and landing only 42 per cent of her first serves.
She also converted just two of her 10 break-point opportunities.
“Well, I got pretty many opportunities in the first set to break,” Rybakina acknowledged during her post-match press conference.
“I lost my serve very easily with too many double faults overall for the match, and also percentage of the serve. And yeah, the first serve was not really working for me today.
“I feel like the energy could have been better. So yeah, a lot of things which I’m not happy with.”
