"The queen gonna shine on the Diamond Court": Rybakina lands in Beijing for China Open after performance bye fiasco

Elena Rybakina has arrived in Beijing to compete in the China Open after her withdrawal from the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

The World No. 5 is finally returning to the tennis courts after a month since her participation in the US Open, where she surprisingly lost in the third round to the 30th seed Sorana Cirstea.

In addition to her early exit at the US Open, Elena Rybakina also lost her top-3 ranking position. Coco Gauff, who won three tournaments during the hardcourt swing, including the US Open, surpassed her. Jessica Pegula, who reached the fourth round in New York, also moved ahead of her in the rankings.

Rybakina was originally set to return to the courts in Tokyo, where she was scheduled to face Linda Noskova. However, she withdrew from the tournament due to physical issues, as she explained.

Prior to the start of the tournament, the 2022 Wimbledon champion expressed her frustration with the change in seeding order, which denied her a first-round bye. The bye was given to Caroline Garcia, who had reached the semifinals just a week earlier at the WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open.

Now, Rybakina has arrived in Beijing for the last WTA 1000 event of the year. She has had some outstanding performances in 2023 in tournaments of this category. The World No. 5 reached three finals, winning in Indian Wells and Rome but falling to Petra Kvitova in Miami.

Only Sabalenka and Swiatek have reached two finals in WTA 1000 events this year, with the Belarusian being the sole winner, capturing the title in Madrid.

“Elena Rybakina in Beijing 🇨🇳 The queen gonna shine in the Diamond Court 💎 #2023ChinaOpen”

Rybakina's debut will be against the World No. 23 Qinwen Zheng. The 20-year-old rising star will be the top local hope in the tournament.

'Queen Wen' arrives in great form, having reached the quarterfinals of the US Open and also winning the gold medal this week at the Asian Games, where she defeated her compatriot Lin Zhu (32nd) with a score of 6-2, 6-4.