"I feel like actually I'm not the Wimbledon champion" - says Elena Rybakina about her triumph at SW19

Elena Rybakina fulfilled a longtime dream of hers by winning Wimbledon but the victory felt empty for her due to the circumstances.

Rybakina played a fabulous event taking down former champion Simona Halep en route to the final and defeating Ons Jabeur in the final. The Kazakhstani player became the first player from her country to win the event putting her name forever in the history books.

It's a proud achievment for her and many others who worked hard towards that goal:

“Looking back for these few weeks, I played already tournaments, I would say it was a great achievement for me. I'm super proud of my team, of course. Experience-wise I would say it was not the greatest."

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Despite the win, Rybakina did not feel the full joy of it. Two thousand ranking points would have been awarded to her usually taking her from her current rank (25) to six. She is not reaping the benefits of her Wimbledon triumph in practical terms and it's making the triumph feel hollow:

“I think this is the problem of the structure of the tour. Honestly, a bit weak leadership because we have so many things going on. It was my dream to win Wimbledon. It's a pity. I feel like actually I'm not the Wimbledon champion.It takes time to realise, but when you're going from tournament to tournament, this is how you feel in the end of the day.”

Asked to clarify, she bluntly said:

"It's everything around. It's the points situation. I don't think that it's fair. Knowing that as of today I would be No.2 on the Race and I'm not able to play the Race, I don't think it's fair. I'm talking not only about myself, but just generally I think with all the decisions, many players are paying for all these decisions.”

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