If you didn’t recognize her name, you will now. Elena Rybakina walked away from Wimbledon as a brand-new Grand Slam champion.
Behind her powerful groundstrokes and even more powerful serve, Rybakina became the 57th different Slam winner in the Open Era, but the first representing Kazakhstan.
What do we make of her run? And what else impressed us at SW19? Here are our final thoughts from the All England Club:
Looking back at two weeks of Wimbledon, when did you first start to believe Elena Rybakina could very well run through the field all the way to the winner’s circle?
Jason Juzwiak: When Rybakina hit 15 aces in her quarterfinal win against Ajla Tomljanovic, it finally clicked that this could be an unstoppable part of her game, regardless of her opponent. Honestly, I had not retained that she had become this season’s ace leader until then. But once I saw that statistic, and that her serve was in full force during the event, I thought that Rybakina at least had the potential to win any match she started.
Alex Macpherson: Her second-round win against in-form Bianca Andreescu gave me pause. The mounting ace tally was another warning sign. Still, for most of the fortnight, I stuck with my title pick of Ons Jabeur. But it was the way in which Rybakina shut out Simona Halep in the semifinals that made me realize she didn’t just have the game to spoil the Tunisian’s party, but would be able to rise to the occasion as well.
Courtney Nguyen: Rybakina made the second week without dropping a set, but that’s not what made me a believer. It was the fact that she progressed through her first three matches in six tight sets, against CoCo Vandeweghe, Bianca Andreescu — who had just made the Bad Homburg final — and Zheng Qinwen. In the first week, Rybakina went 3-0 in tiebreaks and 5-0 when a set went past 5-5.
Wimbledon reaction
A host of unseeded players were looking strong heading into the second week. Who surprised you the most?
Juzwiak: Harmony Tan came into Wimbledon with only one tour-level semifinal on her resume, on the high-altitude clay of Bogota. As daunting as it was to edge Serena Williams on Centre Court, it was likely just as daunting to try to back that victory up. But Tan did not suffer a letdown and reached the Round of 16, exceeding my expectations. I’m intrigued to see what she does next.
Macpherson: I sat down for an interview with Tatjana Maria in the first week, on the basis that a mother of two who…