November 19, 2021,
You can tell a lot about what a person likes by their Instagram, besides having their followers hit the “like” button.
They always like that.
Tennis star Elena Rybakina likes quite a bit more.
Like sweets. Lots of photos of her eating pastries and easing down dessert like liquids.
Like animals. Cute cuddly ones in particular. The one with her feeding a kangaroo is a classic.
Like her friends. Tons of pictures with her girlfriends. They smile a lot. For good reason. Elena is doing very well on the tour these days.
Elena clearly enjoys traveling the world. Similar to professional tennis players on the tour, understandably she travels the globe.
When you look at her photos in Australia, Paris, on the beach at sunset and under the lights and skyscrapers of the big cities, she actually appears to be enjoying herself.
We’ll give her a “Like” for that as well.
Elena Rybakina is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player.
We’ve heard of Moscow, Russia but what and where is Kazakhstan?
Kazakhstan is a country in Central Asia. It borders Russia in the north, China in the east, and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in the south.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country, and the ninth-largest in the world. It has a population of 18.8 million, and one of the lowest population densities in the world, at fewer than 6 people per square kilometer.
The territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic groups and empires.
It is the most dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the region’s GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources, and is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage.
Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations.
Good to know. It takes a village to shape and enhance a star like Elena. We learn something new every day.
Elena is indeed a star. She has a career-high ranking of No. 17 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Ms. Rybakina has reached seven finals on the WTA Tour, winning two titles, including one at the Premier level.
Rybakina had a career-high junior ranking of No. 3, only beginning to have significant results relatively late in her junior career at the age of 17.
She then reached two junior Grand Slam semifinals, and won a Grade A title at the Trofeo Bonfiglio in 2017.
Her first consistent success on the WTA Tour came in the mid-2019 and was highlighted by her first WTA title at the Bucharest Open as well as her top 100 debut. Rybakina made her breakthrough in the 2020 season, during which she led the tour with five finals, including four in her first five events of the year.
Then came this headline.
As reported by CNN on June 6, 2021, “Serena Williams was surprisingly beaten by Elena Rybakina in two sets as the 39-year-old American exited the French Open at the last-16 stage on Sunday. Williams’ defeat means her quest to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slams continues.
The American, who lost 6-3 7-5 to Rybakina, hasn’t made it past the fourth round on the clay at Roland Garros since 2016.”
Well done. So it appears between Instagram photos, Elena is a giant slayer too.
Press the “Like” button.
There is much to like about Elena. She has a fascinating story.
Elena was born on June 17, 1999 in Moscow.
She started engaging in sports with her older sister from a very young age, originally focusing on gymnastics and ice skating. Upon being told that she was too tall to become a professional in either of those sports, her father suggested she switch to tennis instead because of his interest in the sport. Rybakina began playing tennis at the age of six.
Nice example of adaptation.
Rybakina has been sponsored by Adidas for clothing and shoes since the start of 2020. She was previously endorsed by Nike. Her departure from that relationship along with other players made news.
As posted by tennis.com, “At the start of a new season, it’s common to see new partnerships between players and coaches, but it’s less common to see a change between brand and player. The end of 2019 saw a few players leave the Nike camp for different pastures, most likely due to contracts ending.”
The numbers received attention.
Caroline Garcia was formerly with Nike, and is now with Asics.
There’s Maria Sakkari, who has gone from Nike to Adidas.
Our super star Elena Rybakina, switched from Nike to Adidas.
Having her name in the same conversation with those big name stars places some perspective on how far Elena has come.
Adaptation appears to run in the family from changing sports to endorsers and coaches.
Elena hired Andrei Chesnokov, whom she had already trained with at Spartak Tennis Club, to be her private coach in 2018 at the age of 18. This was the first time she had an individual coach. Chesnokov only coached in Moscow and did not travel with her to tournaments.
We remember Andrei playing very well back in the day. He played in some big matches on center court.
Elena switched coaches to Stefano Vukov in February 2019.
Mr. Vukov is a former Croatian tennis player who briefly competed mainly on the ITF Futures tour. With Vukov as her first traveling coach, Rybakina rapidly improved, rising from just inside the top 200 of the WTA rankings into the top 30 in about a year.
Time for another “Like” for adaptation and change. Emotionally detached, making the right decisions.
As far as her playing style, Elena is an aggressive baseliner who aims to finish points quickly, and whose high risk game style leads to an accumulation of both winners and unforced errors.
She can generate effortless power, both on groundstrokes and her serve.
Her forehand and backhand are both hit flat, with relentless depth and speed, allowing her to generate excellent power with both her groundstrokes, and she can hit winners with both shots. Her powerful serve, which is capable of reaching 119 mph, allows her to serve a large number of aces, and she led the tour in the ace count in 2020, serving 192 aces throughout the year.
That is amazing.
Due to her doubles experience, Elena loves to finish points at the net, and is effective at strategic volleys.
We are now going to follow Elena’s career more closely. She is destined for greater achievements on the tour.
You should follow her as well.
We are certain you will “Like” what you see.
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OPENING PHOTO Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com Editorial-credit-Janet-McIntyre-Shutterstock.com_.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Rybakina
https://www.instagram.com/lenarybakina/?hl=en
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/06/tennis/serena-williams-elena-rybakina-french-open-spt-intl/index.html
https://www.tennis.com/baseline/articles/new-year-sees-group-of-wta-stars-switch-from-nike
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/