Elena Rybakina has eased fears about her fitness ahead of the US Open by saying she has confidence in the recent rehabilitation process she has undergone.
Rybakina, who will be seeded second in the women’s draw, suffered a blow leading up to the final Grand Slam of the year after a heel injury forced her to retire from her match against Iga Swiatek at the Cincinnati Open. The setback occurred less than two weeks ago on August 21st and left the Kazakh struggling to walk for a couple of days afterwards. At the time, Rybakina said the issue had been ‘bothering her for a long time,’ but she managed to keep it under control.
“I didn’t play for an exact week, and we consulted with different doctors,” the world No.2 said during her pre-tournament press conference at the US Open.
“I have been recovering. Slowly started to go on the court. A lot of gym.
“It wasn’t easy, because we didn’t know exactly how the foot was gonna react, since it was very painful for me to go and serve in that match in Cincinnati. Then for a couple of days, it was painful to even walk.”
It is far from ideal preparation for Ryabkina going into her worst-performing Grand Slam in terms of matches won. She has reached the fourth round once in seven appearances, which was last year. She withdrew from the 2024 event due to a lower back injury.
Despite the setback, the 27-year-old believes she will be fully fit for this year’s event.
“I’m quite confident with the decision we are making each day on how to practice, what to do, and especially what can happen in the worst-case scenario,” she said.
“It’s also to start feeling better on the court, moving-wise, since I didn’t play for a whole week.
“I just feel like it’s just a few more days and I should be very fine.”
Rybakina isn’t brushing the issue under the carpet, admitting she is waiting to see how much pain she will feel when playing matches. Her opening match at the US Open will be against wildcard Thea Frodin, who recently won the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships. In her section of the draw, she could also face Maria Sakkari and Naomi Osaka during the first week.
The world No.1 ranking is also up for grabs. Rybakina could secure it by reaching the semi-final stage. She will also clinch the position if Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff do not win the title.
“I don’t check the ranking points situation, but from the media mostly I know where I should get, how the others should play,” she said. “Especially now when I had this injury last week, I feel like the most important thing is to just try to stay healthy, play one match at a time, because this is not the last tournament of the year.”
Rybakina won the Australian Open at the start of this season but since then has suffered early exits at the last two majors. Losing in the second round of the French Open and the third round at Wimbledon.
