The essence of the concept is that the WTA, when compiling the table, advances not the four highest-ranked tennis players, but two. Instead of the third and fourth seeds, tennis players who performed well during the week before the start of a particular tournament will skip the first round. In the case of Tokyo, Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari miss the first round. Sixth in the WTA rankings, Sakkari won the Guadalajara tournament this Sunday and was scheduled to play in Tokyo a day later. Garcia, the WTA No. 10, lost to Sakkari in Guadalajara in the semifinals.
In her speech to organizers of the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo, Rybakina wrote that she had to “prioritize health and fitness.”
“I’m really sorry I had to leave Tokyo this year. I was looking forward to this tournament and I love the city. But I have to prioritize my health and fitness and I need time to improve 100%.
This is Rybakina’s official explanation and it must be accepted. Either way, the timing of the tournament withdrawal announcement seems rather odd. Earlier on Saturday (September 23), she expressed disappointment at the WTA’s introduction of “Performance Byes” in the first round of the women’s singles draw in Tokyo, despite being seeded third in the tournament.
Instead, the women’s governing body decided to send fourth and fifth seeds Sakkari and Garcia, both lower-ranked, straight to the second round.
Elena Rybakina was certainly unhappy with this development, as evidenced by the sarcastic comment from the WTA. She wrote:
“Goodbye performance. Thanks for the last minute rule changes. WTA, good decisions as always.”
Elena Rybakina has had excellent results this year, with an impressive 42-12 win-loss record and two major titles in Indian Wells and Rome. The Kazakh tennis player also reached the final of the 2023 Australian Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
Despite a disappointing loss to Sabalenka in Melbourne in the Australian Open final, Rybakina won her first WTA 1000 title at Indian Wells around two months later. Later this season, at the Italian Open in May, she will add another WTA-1000 title to her trophy cabinet.
Interestingly, the 24-year-old has beaten Iga Swiatek three times this season despite leading the WTA rankings for a long time. Despite performing at the highest level, Rybakina still struggles for consistency due to issues with her form and fitness.
Rybakina withdrew from the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships for the first time before her round of 16 match with Coco Gauff, citing a lower back injury. She was then forced to withdraw from the French Open before the third round due to a viral illness.
The fifth racket in the world also filmed several matches this year. In April, she bowed out in her second round match in Stuttgart, losing to Brazilian Beatrice Haddad Maia 1–6, 1–3. Then she withdrew from the match against Italian Jasmine Paolini in the 1/8 finals in Cincinnati due to a shoulder injury.
Rybakina will now miss the Tokyo tournament. Without the new rule, she would probably have participated, but now the WTA has sent a clear signal and in this context there is really an opportunity to regain strength before the final tournament.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
