Reigning Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina got relegated all the way out to the hinterland of Court 13 for her first #AusOpen match. I understand there is a saturation of recent women's Slam champs, to an extent, but has a reigning Wimbledon champ ever been so quickly disregarded?
"Has a reigning Wimbledon champ ever been so quickly disregarded?": Journalist Ben Rothenberg on Rybakina being shunted onto Court 13 for Australian Open first round tie
WTASunday, 15 January 2023 at 14:00
Tennis journalist Ben Rothernberg questions the Australian Open court selection with reigning Wimbledon champ Rybakina playing on court 13.
Organising the early round of a tennis grand slam can be a logistical nightmare as some big names simply will have to play on the smaller. That's what happened to Elena Rybakina who is the reigning Wimbledon champion. She will play her 1st round match on Court No. 13 which Rothenberg questioned.
He wrote on Twitter:
"Reigning Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina got relegated all the way out to the hinterland of Court 13 for her first AusOpen match. I understand there is a saturation of recent women's Slam champs, to an extent, but has a reigning Wimbledon champ ever so quickly been disregarded?"
He's probably right in his assessment but a lot of what determines this is popularity in order to boost ticket sales and she's not that popular compared to other players at the moment. ž
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