“I went back and it was even worse; hopefully I can feel more comfortable at Wimbledon” – Elena Rybakina on mysterious French Open illness

Elena Rybakina has opened up about the debilitating effects of the illness that forced her to end her campaign at the 2023 French Open.

Rybakina started her Roland Garros campaign off strong with dominant wins over Brenda Fruhvitrova and Linda Noskova. However, her run at the clay-court Major was cut short unexpectedly as she forced to retire from the tournament due to an illness.

During her press conference, the Kazakh disclosed that the illness was caused by an unnamed virus she picked up in Paris which effected her respiratory system.

Rybakina began her grass-court season with a straight sets win over Polina Kudermetova at the German Open. She then lost her subsequent match to eventual finalist Donna Vekic.

The World No. 3 will be back in action at the Rothesay Insternational in Eastbourne.

Speaking ahead of her first match at the tournament, the 24-year-old opened up about the challenges she faced in recovering from her illness.

“It’s been tough actually. At the French Open, after I withdrew, I went back to the hotel and it was even worse so I had to stay in Paris for a few days not leaving the room.

I started my preparation week after just slowly starting and it was tough since it was a virus,” Elena Rybakina said in her pre-tournament press conference.
Rybakina admitted to not yet being at her best physically and expressed her desire to gain match experience in Eastbourne ahead of her title defense at Wimbledon 2023.

“So I still think that I’m not 100 per cent physically where I want to be but slowly it’s getting better and hopefully I can get some more matches here and feel more comfortable at Wimbledon,” she added.