Now Rybakina seemed to relax into her game, and what a game it is. But a slightly scruffy service game from Jabeur at the start of the second set triggered a dramatic change in fortune. She made a superb start, breaking Rybakina’s 122mph serve twice in the opening set. It was Jabeur who dominated the early stages. She makes up for her lack of stature with preternatural deftness and touch. Whereas Jabeur, her Tunisian opponent, is one of the smallest elite players at 5ft 6in. Rybakina stands 6ft tall and strikes the ball with coruscating power. In the end, Rybakina became the first woman to come back from a set down in the Wimbledon final since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006. Kept it too long.”ĭespite the unfortunate political backdrop, it was a stellar performance, and an excellent match between two contrasting opponents.

Eventually she composed herself, and drew a laugh from the assembled reporters by saying “You wanted to see emotion. “Probably they're going to be super proud,” she said, before dissolving into tears. Coming into the interview room for her post-match press conference, she was asked whether she had spoken to her parents yet, and what she expected their reaction to be. Only once the match was finished did Rybakina finally show how much the title really meant to her. (The Venus Rosewater Dish – one of the finest trophies ever made – is not to be sullied with players’ names.) Were it not for the grandeur of the surroundings, we could have been watching the aftermath of a second-round meeting at Eastbourne.Īdmittedly, there are no rankings points available at Wimbledon this year because of the ban on Russians – which seemed highly ironic in the light of the fact that Rybakina was born and raised in Moscow before adopting the Kazakh flag four years ago.īut there was still £2m of prizemoney at stake, plus the chance to take your place on the clubhouse honours boards. She then marched briskly up to the net with her head down for a businesslike handshake. When One Jabeur skewed her return of serve wide on match point, Elena Rybakina clenched her fist briefly, as if she had just served an ace rather than claiming the most historic and sought-after title in any individual sport. Power beat panache on Centre Court, in a ladies’ final which delivered some magnificent tennis yet still ended in the sort of dispassionate non-celebration that one might expect to see in a Pathe newsreel.

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Rybakina fights back after losing the first set to win convincingly.

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