"I went back and it was even worse; hopefully I can feel more comfortable at Wimbledon" - Elena Rybakina on mysterious French Open illness

Elena Rybakina has opened up about the debilitating effects of the illness that forced her to end her campaign at the 2023 French Open.

Rybakina started her Roland Garros campaign off strong with dominant wins over Brenda Fruhvitrova and Linda Noskova. However, her run at the clay-court Major was cut short unexpectedly as she forced to retire from the tournament due to an illness.

During her press conference, the Kazakh disclosed that the illness was caused by an unnamed virus she picked up in Paris which effected her respiratory system.

Rybakina began her grass-court season with a straight sets win over Polina Kudermetova at the German Open. She then lost her subsequent match to eventual finalist Donna Vekic.

The World No. 3 will be back in action at the Rothesay Insternational in Eastbourne.

Speaking ahead of her first match at the tournament, the 24-year-old opened up about the challenges she faced in recovering from her illness.

"It’s been tough actually. At the French Open, after I withdrew, I went back to the hotel and it was even worse so I had to stay in Paris for a few days not leaving the room. I started my preparation week after just slowly starting and it was tough since it was a virus," Elena Rybakina said in her pre-tournament press conference.

Rybakina admitted to not yet being at her best physically and expressed her desire to gain match experience in Eastbourne ahead of her title defense at Wimbledon 2023.

"So I still think that I’m not 100 per cent physically where I want to be but slowly it’s getting better and hopefully I can get some more matches here and feel more comfortable at Wimbledon," she added.

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"It’s a new challenge for me to come as a defending champion" - Elena Rybakina ahead of Wimbledon 2023

Elena Rybakina won the Wimbledon title in 2022

Elena Rybakina scored a comeback win over Ons Jabeur in the 2022 Wimbledon final to claim her maiden Grand Slam title. The Kazakh acknowledged that it would be a unique challenge to enter the grass-court Major as the defending champion.

"It’s the first time and it’s a new challenge for me to come as a defending champion and everybody saying like I’m kind of the favourite so it is different," Elena Rybakina said.

The World No. 3 stated that while she would approach her title defense with a different attitude, her goals remained unchanged.

"But the goals are the same and I’m trying just to really enjoy and having all this experience from last year to actually help me to perform this year so yeah, the goals are the same it’s just maybe a different attitude a bit to the tournament," she added.

Rybakina will be up against Wang Xiyu in her tournament opener at the Eastbourne International on Monday, June 26.