Why Elena Rybakina losing early at Wimbledon is 'strange' as former Grand Slam finalist puzzled by form

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 at 10:36

Elena Rybakina was left out early of another Grand Slam as she was defeated by Elise Mertens in the third round of Wimbledon and this came after a pretty abject time on court as of late. With the World No.1 spot seemingly there waiting for her to claim, it was a tale as old as time as she failed to claim it and lost early at other Slams.

She made an excellent start to the 2026 season as she won the Australian Open beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final and followed it up with an excellent Sunshine Double before winning in Stuttgart in April.

These results helped her to close in on Aryna Sabalenka and she had an opportunity to overtake her at the French Open. But she flattered to deceive as she lost out to Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round.

With Sabalenka losing in the Quarter-Final at Roland Garros, she had the second chance to claim it. But she again failed to make the most of it as she lost out to Elise Mertens and Roland Garros. Anastasia Pavyluchenkova who reached the final of the 2021 French Open admits she was confused by her display at Wimbledon.

Pavlyuchenkova puzzled by Rybakina

In particular the fact that she had the chance to become World No.1 and spurned it so easily. The small gap being there means that she had a great chance to ascend to that top spot.

But Pavlyuchenkova mooted that perhaps that put extra pressure on Rybakina so she caved, but while she expected it on clay which isn't her surface persay the fact it happened on grass too causes concern for the Russian.

“I’m very disappointed that Rybakina loses relatively early in Slams, because she’s world No 2 and she has a real chance to become No 1 for the first time, the gap is small,” the Russian – who reached the quarter-final at Wimbledon in 2016 and 2025 – told Tennis Bolshe.

Rybakina had a poor clay and grass season.

“Maybe that also puts pressure on her, because I think at Roland Garros all she needed was to win a couple of matches, and she couldn’t. Maybe clay isn’t her surface, but grass – that was strange.”

Rybakina will look to bounce back as she heads towards the US Open. Another theory throughout was that she is playing too much in pursuit of that top spot and as a result, it stunted her major performances as she was more concerned with points elsewhere over the main events. As is often the case.

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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