"It wasn't an easy tournament": Elena RYBAKINA slams Miami Open organisers for scheduling woes while not being 100%

While Elena Rybakina was defeated 7-5, 6-3 by Danielle Collins, it was both a superb tournament for the Kazakh and also one to forget at the Miami Open as she explained post match as scheduling became the focus once more.

Rybakina has been very vociferous in the past in her dismay at scheduling especially when which seems to happen a lot, she ends up playing during the night session. In particular Rome and Montreal last year were slammed heavily by Rybakina and her team with multiple matches in multiple days also in Miami.

This was despite her not being 100% and she said that being scheduled late at night didn't help in her recovery after the World Number Four had just come from a bout of Gastrointestinal flu (GNI) which saw her out of Indian Wells. Such was the severity of the illness, she was exhausted after every match and didn't play on her rest days, but still she made it to the final losing to Collins.

"Obviously I expected the crowd to be more supportive of her but I think they were supportive of me, especially in the more difficult moments when I was trying to come back. There was a nice atmosphere, it's not something I focused on. It was great playing up front," said Rybakina after the final.

"No, I definitely didn't feel 100%. After the match with Maria Sakkari she was very tough physically. It wasn't an easy tournament. The first games I played were late at night, at the end of the day, and I went to sleep around 2 or 3 in the morning.

"Then I had a few meetings during the day, so the program varied too much. It doesn't help for recovery. There were some very difficult challenges, some of which I won with a bit of luck. Obviously I didn't expect to be fresh for the final, she played very well and she deserved to win."