"It's the perfect surface and Slam for her to make a comeback on" - Former player Alicia Molik on Elena Rybakina's Wimbledon title defense
Former World No. 8 Alicia Molik recently weighed in on Elena Rybakina's chances of a successful title defense at Wimbledon 2023.
Despite being hailed as the favorite to defend her title, Rybakina's prospects at SW19 have come under scrutiny due to her underwhelming grasscourt season so far. The Kazakh commenced her grasscourt campaign at the German Open in Berlin, defeating Polina Kudermetova in her tournament opener before falling to eventual runner-up Donna Vekic.
On June 26, the World No. 3 was scheduled to take on Wang Xiyu in her opening match at the Eastbourne International. However, she pulled out of the tournament prior to the clash due to the lingering effects of a viral illness which also forced her 2023 French Open withdrawal.
Commenting on the Kazakh's sub-par preparation in the lead-up to her Wimbledon title defense, Alicia Molik asserted that with the week of qualifiers and Elena Rybakina's high seeding allowing her to avoid the other top-32 seeds, she would have almost two weeks of preparation time before the 'pointy end' of the tournament.
"In reality, she still has sort of two weeks' preparation for the 'pointy end.' If you consider the week of qualifying , the first week she has to play well but she doesn't have to hit top gear, given her seeding (means) she won't be playing anyone ranked higher than, say, 32 in the world. So I sort of look at it that way, that time hasn't run out," Molik told ausopen.com.
Molik highlighted the World No. 3's advantage on grass due to her powerful game, noting that the shortened points she forced her opponents to play would keep her from getting fatigued.
“What she does have to her advantage, because she hits so big on the grass – it's just so damaging – is that if she is still feeling the side-effects or a bit of fatigue, the points do not last long. They're a couple of hits, especially if she's hitting her spots on serve and returning well; it's not going to be too taxing physically," she said.
The 42-year-old claimed that the grasscourt Major was the perfect surface and Grand Slam for Elena Rybakina to make a successful comeback.
“So it's probably the perfect surface and Slam for her to make a comeback on," she added.
A brief look at how Elena Rybakina's Wimbledon 2022 triumph played out
Elena Rybakina entered the 2022 Wimbledon Championships as the 17th seed. She made her way through the first week unscathed, with dominant straight sets wins over Colleen Vandeweghe, Bianca Andreescu, Qinwen Zheng and Petra Martic.
In the quarterfinals, the Kazakh scored a comeback win over Ajla Tomljanovic, fighting back to claim a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. The World No. 3 then defeated the 2019 champion Simona Halep to advance to her maiden Grand Slam final.
Elena Rybakina took on Ons Jabeur in the final. The 24-year-old lost the opening set before raising her level in the second and third sets, winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to claim the Wimbledon 2022 title.