Former Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina is on the verge of dropping out of the WTA top 10 following recent setbacks.
The 25-year-old, widely considered one of the most skilled players in the women’s singles circuit, is currently facing a difficult stretch.
Her latest outing came at the WTA 1000 Miami Open, where she was eliminated in the round of 64 by American Ashlyn Krueger, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
So far this year, Rybakina has competed in six WTA tournaments but has yet to reach the final in any of them.
She recently withdrew from the upcoming Stuttgart Open to participate in the Billie Jean King Cup. Last year, she won the title there with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final.
As a result of skipping Stuttgart, Rybakina will forfeit the 500 points she was defending from last year’s win, causing her to fall out of the top 10 in the WTA rankings.
Following Kazakhstan’s win over Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup, Rybakina voiced her dissatisfaction with the current scheduling.
“I know that the schedule overall is very packed, and it’s not easy to even schedule Billie Jean King Cup. But ideally, if we go to one part of the world, it will be nicer to play the same part. Now, for example, the clay court [season] starts and [some have] already played even tournaments on clay. So to come back and play hard, it’s a bit tricky. And ideally, if there is a tournament, it’s better to schedule it closer to where we want to be,” Rybakina said.
