Kazakhstan’s star tennis player
Elena Rybakina has revealed the
reason behind missing the Tokyo Open.
The 24-year-old opted to stay out of the ongoing competition
at the very last minute which raised a few eyebrows.
Rybakina was recently quoted in a report where she stated
that she again fell sick after recovering from illness in the US Open and that
she thought taking rest was the best option for her.
“Well, for sure I'm focusing now just to play a little bit
more matches because unfortunately I got sick again, & maybe no one knew it,”
she said. “New York was tough for me. After that, it was a couple of weeks to
recover.
"That's why now coming even to Tokyo, it was not the best for me maybe
to play there. Now I'm just looking to play some matches. Of course, all the
focus is going to the WTA Finals.”
The world number five has had a mixed 12 months at the
highest level. She started brightly at the Australian Open where she fell in
the final to current world number one Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka with a score of
4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
However, from there on, not much went right for her. In the
recently concluded US Open, she was knocked out of the tournament after losing
to Sorana Cirstea with a score of 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.