Elena was not expecting to win Wimbledon this year. She didn't think she would reach the second week.
She knew she had been putting in the work and had long-term dreams for herself, but she wasn't happy with her preparation for the tournament and had been injured. When she first arrived at the tournament, she didn't have a lot of expectations for herself.
But match by match, against her opponents, she proved to herself that she was good. On Saturday, she stunned the world with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback victory over OnsJabeur on Centre Court for the first major title of her career.
After the final point had been won, the normally reserved woman puffed out her cheeks and shook her head in shock. She smiled after shaking hands with the two people.
"I'm speechless," the woman said on the court. I can't say how happy I am because I don't have the words.
How did she win on Saturday? Our main point is here.
The moment Elena Rybakina became a Wimbledon champion โ๐โ #Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/gVCU9oqxx5
โ Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
Entering the match, she had a tournament-leading 49 ace, 19 more than anyone else, and was averaging eight per match. She had the second-fastest serve speed among the women at a blazing 122 mph. Over the last fortnight, it had been a huge asset to the team.
There was a dip in dominance. In the second set, she was back to her best. She sealed the set with an ace in the last game of the set. She had four ace on the day, two of which were in the final game of the match.
Even though she didn't have the crowd on her side and Jabeur's early control, she remained calm and composed. It didn't show if she was flustered. She looked like a new player when she came back for the second set.
She almost completely silenced the crowd in the process of her amazing turn of events. The unflappable Rybakina never yelled "come on" or "let's go" and appeared focused on the next point.
With a number of consequential errors down the stretch, Jabeur had a difficult time.
Forever part of Wimbledon history.#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/e9nDLrstli
โ Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
The last woman ranked outside of the top 20 to win at Wimbledon was Venus Williams. She became the first woman to win at the All England Club after losing the first set since 2006 and the youngest since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
She is the first player to take home the trophy as well as the one who reached a major final. The achievement is monumental for the Central Asian nation and has become the subject of scrutiny over the last two weeks. In order to get more funding for her career, she switched federations in order to be closer to Russia.
As Russian and Belarusian players were not allowed to play at Wimbledon this year because of the invasion of Ukraine, they have been asked about their loyalties and current ties to their home country. She downplayed her connection to Russia and said she was really happy to represent her country, but it is thought she still resides in Moscow.
However, in front of the crowd and the bright glares of the cameras, both of them were smiling and chatting with each other.
She won't see her hard work rewarded in the rankings despite her milestone victory. The ban on Russian and Belarusian players resulted in the loss of ranking points for Wimbledon. She would have cracked the top 10 for the first time in her career if she'd earned an additional 2,000 points.
She will look to improve upon her career-best third-round appearance at the US Open when she begins the hard-court portion of the season. She had previously won one of her two titles before Wimbledon on the surface and now with confidence she could have even more success.
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