"It’s still crazy, I can’t believe it" - Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on her coach getting her name tattooed
Elena Rybakina emerged as the unlikely champion at this year's Wimbledon Championships, with the youngster impressing with her display of flawless tennis throughout the fortnight
Longtime coach Stefano Vukov has been one of her biggest cheerleaders and made a bet with her during the 2020 Qatar Open that he would get her name tattooed if she won the Wimbledon title.
In her latest interview with The Guardian, Rybakina said, much to her surprise, that Vukov honored the bet and had her name and date of her final tattooed on his arm.
“I already forgot [about the bet] – we were laughing around,” she said. “Before the final, he told me that he would do it. So, he did it. For me, it’s still crazy, I can’t believe it. But it is what it is. We had a bet.”
Elaborating on her relationship with Vukov, the Kazakh said that the duo's different personality traits complemented each other well. She went on to say that he always pushed her to be better, something that she said has worked well for her.
“I’m a very calm person and he is very active. He has so much energy and I think it works well for us because we are completely different. He’s always pushing me to be better and this works. I’ve had great results with him. We’ll see how long and how many more achievements we can make together,” she explained.
"I never thought that, in the end, I’m gonna stay professional" - Elena Rybakina
Having started as a figure skater, Elena Rybakina made the switch to tennis at the age of six. The Kazakh said that she only played tennis to spend time with her friends and never thought of becoming a professional.
The goals, however, have changed since. The 23-year-old said that she is now hungry for more Grand Slam titles and wants to give her best at the US Open — which gets underway on August 29.
“I was always wanting to go after school because my friends are there," she said. "We are having fun on court. I never thought that, in the end, I’m gonna stay professional."
“It’s never enough, I thin. The goal is to win many more Grand Slams. For this year, my goal was to be top 10. Still it’s the same goal because I didn’t move in the ranking. It’s just the last Grand Slam of this year, to try and get as far as I can,” she added.