Born in Russia but defending Kazakhstan, Ribakina is Wimbledon champion

Elena Ribakina won the women’s Wimbledon final this Saturday (9) against Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the first African to reach a decision in the tournament, and secured her first Grand Slam title.

After losing the first set 6-3, the Russian-born Kazakh scored two 6-2 in a row to secure the title against the current world number 2.

Ribakina has competed for four years for Kazakhstan and, therefore, was able to circumvent the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians from this edition of the competition, due to the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.

Both are debutants in Grand Slam finals. Jabeur, 27, who says he wants to be an inspiration for Arab and African tennis players, won the sympathy of fans of the tournament.

Before the match, Ribakina, 23, said that she “did not expect to reach the second week, let alone the final”, after losing in the round of 16 in her first participation in 2021. That same year, the Moscow-born tennis player arrived to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, his best performance at one of the top four world tournaments up until Saturday’s title.

This year, Jabeur won the grass tournament in Berlin and amassed 11 consecutive victories on this type of court. Ribakina, on the other hand, arrived at the competition in London recovering from an injury, which did not allow him to have a good preparation.

The victory creates a nuisance for the Wimbledon organization in the centenary year of its center court. Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, presented the trophy to Ribakina. It is speculated that the banning of athletes from Russia and Belarus was also motivated to prevent a member of the British royal family from rewarding athletes from these countries.

The men’s final will be played this Sunday (10) between Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, who collects penalties for breaking rackets and protocols and offending judges.

Favorite Djokovic, currently number three in the world, is looking for his seventh Wimbledon win and could reach his 21st Grand Slam title, approaching the 22 of record holder Rafael Nadal.