Elena Andreyevna Rybakina (born 17 June 1999), is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 12 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and became the first Kazakh player to reach the top 15 and to win a Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. Learn about Elena Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, ahead of her thrilling Wimbledon semi-final showdown against Simona Halep.
Elena Rybakina was left speechless after she “unexpectedly” won the Wimbledon title, producing a stunning comeback to beat Ons Jabeur in the final on Centre Court.
Elena Rybakina has won the Wimbledon semi-finals, her finest run at a Grand Slam event. Rybakina was born in Moscow in 1999 but she was able to compete at this year’s Wimbledon despite the ban being place in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian-born Kazakhstani player advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2021 French Open and then beat Ajla Tomljanovi in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Back in 2018, Rybakina gained citizenship in Kazakhstan and changed her federation to the Asian country. She was given financial support by the Kazakhstan tennis federation and eventually made her breakthrough onto the WTA Tour.
Earlier this week, Rybakina admitted that she was hopeful of repaying nation’s tennis federation for their support over the years. “They believed in me,” she said after her win over Ajla Tomljanovic.
“They made everything possible for me to keep playing, keep improving. I had all the conditions to practice and everything. Of course, it helped a lot.”
Her first sustained success on the WTA Tour came in mid-2019, highlighted by her first WTA victory and top 100 debuts at the Bucharest Open.
The Kazakh player was tipped for big things after she made an excellent start to the 2020 season, but after the Covid-19 disruptions she went off the boil and has struggled in recent years.
Ranked 15th for the main draw at the All England Tennis Club after failing to put together a decent run of form ahead of the grass-court Grand Slam, Rybakina admitted before the final that she did not expect to reach the second week, let alone play for the title on Championship Saturday.
But she went all the way at SW19, beating the likes of Grand Slam champions Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu en route to her maiden Grand Slam final before seeing off Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Who Is Stefano Vukov? Meet Elena Rybakina Coach
Elena transferred from the Dynamo Sports Club to the Spartak Tennis Club at a young age and worked with numerous coaches. She trained with Andrey Chesnokov, a former top-10 player, and Evgenia Kulikovskaya, a former top-100 player.
Elena Rybakina’s former coach, Andrei Chesnokov, mocked the Royal Family for handing the Wimbledon trophy over to a ‘native of Russia’ despite a ban being in place for Russian and Belarusian players at this year’s Championships.
Andrey Chesnokov assisted her till 2019. Elena Rybakina’s coach was then Stefano Vukov, who she still works with now.
Stefano Yukov is a former Croatian tennis player who competed in the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour and the ITF Futures Tour. He was born on March 27, 1987, and has a career-high singles rating of 1122.
Stefano has also won 12 tennis tournaments in his career, including professional ITF, ATP, and Davis Cup titles. Elena has developed into one of the sport’s finest female players under his instruction. He has elevated her game to the next level, allowing her to participate in Grand Slams against the best.
Elena Rybakina Net Worth
Elena Rybakina’s current net worth is estimated to be roughly 1.4 million dollars in 2022, according to numerous websites and our study. She has gained all of his possessions and money through tournament participation and endorsements.
Since the beginning of 2020, Rybakina has been sponsored by Adidas for clothes and shoes. Nike had previously sponsored her. She plays with a Yonex VCore 100 racket.
She reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinals in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, defeating CoCo Vandeweghe, Bianca Andreescu, Zheng Qinwen, and Petra Marti. Then, for the first time in a Major, she advanced to the semifinals by defeating Ajla Tomljanovi in the quarterfinals.
She became the first Kazakh singles player (male or female) to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. After defeating Simona Halep in straight sets, she advanced to her maiden Grand Slam final, becoming the youngest Wimbledon finalist since Garbie Muguruza in 2015.
She won her first major title after defeating Ons Jabeur in three sets.
What Is Elena Rybakina Salary?
Elena Rybakina’s current salary is reported to be $13,685. She is the current Kazakhstani female No. 1 singles player and the 17th seed at this year’s All-England Club.
She now holds a career-high ranking of world No. 12 and debuted on the WTA Tour in 2019. A month after turning 20, she won her first WTA Tour
Championship at the Bucharest Open, and she quickly advanced to the final of the Jiangxi International Open.
The 23-year-old reached the finals of four of her first five competitions in 2020. She defeated Zhang Shuai in the Hobart International final to earn her second WTA championship, but she lost in her other finals that year.