Elena Rybakina arrives in New York for US Open despite injury concerns

Elena Rybakina recently took to social media to let her fans know that she will be playing at the 2023 US Open, in spite of injury concerns compromising her lead-up to the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.

Rybakina recently retired from her third-round match in Cincinnati, causing many fans to wonder whether she would play at this year's New York Slam. The tennis community, however, can breathe a sigh of relief as Rybakina has all but confirmed that she will still be playing at the 2023 US Open.

She posted a few photos of herself at a hotel while expressing excitement about returning to the city of New York.

"Excited to be back in New York," Elena Rybakina wrote, followed by an emoji of the Statue of Liberty.

The Kazakh, who won last year's Wimbledon title, has had a difficult time leading up to this year's US Open. At the Canadian Open last week, she won her quarterfinal against Daria Kasatkina in a match lasting three hours, which also finished at 3 a.m.

Elena Rybakina had little left in the tank for her next match against Liudmila Samsonova, losing to the Russian in three sets. She proceeded to put WTA on blast in her post-match press conference, predicting that her physical recovery for the subsequent tournaments would likely be affected by the poor scheduling.

The World No. 4's comments turned out to be prescient as she was forced to retire in the middle of her Cincinnati campaign due to a shoulder injury.

Elena Rybakina looking to win her second Major title at the 2023 US Open

Elena Rybakina was upset early at this year's French Open

Elena Rybakina has had some great results this year, with an impressive 38-10 win-loss record. The Kazakh beat World No. 1 Iga Swiatek en route to the 2023 Australian Open final, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.

Rybakina then defeated both Swiatek and Sabalenka to win her maiden WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells. She would add another 1000-level title to her trophy cabinet later in the season as she reigned supreme on the claycourts of Rome.

The 24-year-old has had a quiet run since then though, losing to Sara Sorrbies Tormo in the third round of Roland Garros and to Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

However, Rybakina is still one of the favourites to win the final Major tournament of the year. Her huge groundstrokes and precise serve would be well-suited to the medium-paced hardcourts in Flushing Meadows.