The Kazakh Elena Rybakina, 4th in the world and among the favorites for the 2023 edition of Roland-Garros, withdrew before her third round match, sick with “fever and headaches”, she announced SATURDAY. “I haven’t slept well for the past two nights, I had a fever and headaches,” said the player in the wake of the announcement of her package, at a press conference. “It’s hard to perform, to run and even to breathe, so that was the only decision I could make.”
Winner of the WTA 1000 in Rome on clay last month and finalist of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam lifter of the year, the 23-year-old player was among the contenders for the final victory at Porte d’Auteuil. “Today I tried to warm up, but I think the right decision is to retire because it’s very hard to play in these conditions,” she added. The slender (1.84 m) player had won her first two matches on the Parisian ocher without a hitch, against the Czechs Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-4, 6-2 then Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-3.
But Rybakina began to experience symptoms “after (s)his second game. I am very disappointed not to be able to play,” she said. “That’s life, there are ups and downs. Today I wanted to be 100% but obviously I’m far from it. I have no chance. Now I have to recover and do my best to be ready for the grass season.”
The Kazakh, born in Moscow, is the title holder of Wimbledon which will be held this year from July 3 to 16. His victory last year had disturbed the organizers, in an edition where Russian and Belarusian players had been banned. Her package automatically qualifies the Spaniard Sara Sorribes (132nd) for the round of 16, where she will find the winner of the match between the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (23rd) and the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia (14th).
