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Elena Rybakina claimed her second WTA 1000 title by winning the 2023 Italian Open on Saturday. The Kazakh's opponent in the final, Anhelina Kalinina, was forced to retire in the second set due to a left thigh injury.
Rybakina was leading her Ukrainian opponent 6-4, 1-0 when Kalinina decided to call it quits, thus handing Rybakina her fifth career title and biggest on clay. That was the third time a player had retired against Rybakina at the 2023 Italian Open.
In the third round, World No. 52 Anna Kalinskaya was forced to retire against Rybakina at 3-4 in the first set. Then in the quarterfinals, World No. 1 and defending Italian Open champion Iga Swiatek retired against Rybakina at 6-2, 7-6 (3), 2-2, handing the Kazakh a ticket to the semifinal.
These results meant that Rybakina only registered three outright wins in her six matches at the Italian Open. Her interesting sparked plenty of reactions from tennis fans as well as experts.
"Very odd tournament, this Rome. Elena Rybakina is the champion, and a worthy one who has been playing great ball this season, but she got retirements in three of her six matches," tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted.
One fan called the Italian Open a "lucky tournament" for Rybakina.
"3 rivals retirements including the final and most important Świątek. Lucky tournament," the user wrote.
Another fan compared Elena Rybakina's run in Rome to Novak Djokovic's campaign at the 2016 US Open. Djokovic also got retirement/walkover wins in three of his six matches at the 2016 US Open, although he eventually lost to Stan Wawrinka in the final.
"It's giving Novak Djokovic 2016 US Open run," a user tweeted.
"Shame on the organizers. In a way, you deserved such “champion”, who was lucky enough to win because of opponents’ injuries and rain delays," a fan tweeted.
"I mean, easiest path to win if she didn’t even have to finish 3 matches," a fan wrote.
Here are some more fan reactions to Rybakina's title run at the 2023 Italian Open
Elena Rybakina breaks into top 5 after title run in Rome
Elena Rybakina has attained her best-ever career ranking, World No. 4, after winning the title at the 2023 Italian Open.
The Kazakh is having a wonderful 2023 season. She advanced to the finals of the Australian Open (l. Aryna Sabalenka) and the Miami Open (l. Petra Kvitova), and won her first and second WTA 1000 titles, the Indian Wells Open (d. Aryna Sabalenka) and the Italian Open (d. Anhelina Kalinina).
The victory at the Italian Open will give Rybakina immense confidence. Before arriving in Rome, she was not having a great clay season; the Kazakh bowed out of the Madrid Open (l. Anna Kalinskaya) and the Stuttgart Open (l. Beatriz Haddad Maia) in the early rounds.
Elena Rybakina will now enter the 2023 Roland Garros as a top 4 seed and will be one of the firm favorites to go all the way in Paris.
