Wimbledon champion and Australian open runner-up Elena Rybakina withdrew from the upcoming Qatar Open in Doha citing scheduling issues.
Rybakina has been in good form since the start of the year. Just when everyone placed their bets on the Kazakh to go deep at the Qatar tournament, Elena confirmed that she’s not travelling to Doha.
“Unfortunately, I’m not gonna go to Doha. I’m really looking forward to come back next year but this time I’m not going. Schedule-wise it’s not easy to travel so much. I played really well in Melbourne so it’s really better for me just to rest & prepare the next week,” The 23-year-old said.
Rybakina reached the last 8 in the ongoing WTA Abu Dhabi open but was knocked out by Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in a thrilling three setter, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6. Elena fired a total of 19 aces but still couldn’t break the Brazilian mentally. The Kazakh couldn’t break her opponent’s serve at all in the last two sets of the match.
The Brazilian talked about playing Rybakina in the post match conference. “Today was a very tough battle. Rybakina, she’s a very good player, one of the best players in the world, so I knew I had to push myself every single game, especially on her serve. I was trying to find a way to return, to break her, to give myself one more chance, and I’m happy with my win,” Maia said.
Elena Rybakina will return to play at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai.
Ons Jabeur too withdraws from Doha
Earlier, world No.3 Ons Jabeur announced that she’s not travelling to Doha as the Tunisian is reportedly undergoing a minor surgery.
Ons took to Facebook on Wednesday to make this announcement. “To take care of my health, my medical team decided that I had to undergo a minor operation in order to return to the courts and have good results,” She wrote.
The Tunisian apologized to the fans and promised them to return soon. “It breaks my heart, sorry to the fans in the Middle East. I promise to come back stronger and healthier,” She added.