BREAKING: Elena Rybakina doesn’t want to rush as she gives injury update ahead of US Open
Elena Rybakina is hopeful that she will be fit for the US Open after sustaining a leg injury, but she also admitted that it is important not to rush her return to action.
The world No 2 was forced to retire from her Cincinnati Open quarter-final match against Iga Swiatek as the encounter lasted only five games.
There were initially fears that it was an Achilles injury with Rybakina admitting “I couldn’t even push from the serve. It’s painful to walk, and we will know more tomorrow when I do the MRI”, but those concerns have since disappeared.
match took place last Friday and, although the two-time Grand Slam winner has made her way to New York for the season-ending major, she is yet to practice at Flushing Meadows.
Her name is also missing from the practice schedule for Wednesday, but Rybakina – who finished runner-up to Swiatek at the Canadian Open earlier in August – has given a positive update.
“I picked up some injury [in my] last tournament so I am trying to do everything possible to recover. And for now it has been going well,” the Kazakh star told The Mirror US.
“Unfortunately, I was not on the court yet [to practice]. We will try it in the next few days, but yeah it seems okay. So hopefully it’s going to be good for my first match.
“It was very important [to rest], in total I have like 10 days [to recover] and I still have a couple more to prepare.
“It depends also when it’s going to be my [first] match, but we just don’t want to rush and yeah, just taking my time to be 100%.”
The Schedule
Rybakina was due to take part in the US Open mixed doubles event alongside Taylor Fritz on Tuesday, but unsurprisingly withdrew from the tournament with the main focus on the singles competition.
The US Open singles main draw gets underway on Sunday, 30 August with the first-round matches spread over three days.
The reigning Australian Open champion will headline the bottom half of the draw as she is seeded second behind world No 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
And it is not only the US Open trophy that is on the line as Rybakina also has a chance to overtake Sabalenka – who will drop 2,000 points following her title run in 2025 – in the WTA Rankings and become world No 1 for the first time.
The 27-year-old only needs to reach the semi-final to take over top spot.
