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After winning the prestigious Wimbledon Championships last year, Elena Rybakina has made it clear that she is hungry for more Grand Slam titles.
Rybakina beat the likes of Bianca Andreescu, Simona Halep, and Ons Jabeur on her way to lifting her first Major at SW19. Although she didn't win another title in 2022, the 23-year-old began her 2023 season in a strong fashion.
The Russian-born Kazakh player beat Danielle Collins, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko, and Victoria Azarenka to reach the final of the 2023 Australian Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in three sets.
The World No. 7 is currently on national duty, playing at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup for Team Kazakhstan. In a recent interview with Vesti.kz, Rybakina reflected on her unbelievable success over the past year and hopes to further improve her game and win more Grand Slam titles.
"Of course, it's not easy and everything that happened probably over the past year is quite a huge work of my whole team and in general, a huge experience for me," she said.
"In the future, I'll try to keep the same bar, improve my game, progress in all aspects. I hope that I will be able to achieve and win some more Grand Slams. So I hope that everything will work out according to plan," she added.
At the 2023 BNP Paribas Open last month, Rybakina downed Paula Badosa, Swiatek, and Sabalenka to clinch her maiden WTA 1000 title. She came extremely close to completing the Sunshine Double but was beaten by Petra Kvitova in the final of the 2023 Miami Open.
Elena Rybakina puts Team Kazakhstan in strong position against Poland at Billie Jean King Cup 2023
Kazakhstan and Poland are currently fighting for a spot in the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Their two-day qualifier began on Friday, April 14, at the National Tennis Center in Kazakh's capital — Astana. While Yulia Putintseva beat Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3 in the first match, Elena Rybakina defeated Weronika Falkowska 6-3, 6-4.
Rybakina is set to face 19th-ranked Linette in the third match on Saturday. Previewing that clash, the Kazakh acknowledged that she was up against a tough opponent and hoped to gain confidence from her win on Day 1.
"Magda is a rather difficult player so it’ll be a difficult match. I hope today’s match will allow me to feel more confident tomorrow. I’ll prepare and hope that I’ll be able to win,” she said.
Kazakhstan needs to win just one match out of the next three to advance to the Finals, where the top 12 teams will compete in November.
