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Queen Rybakina Doesn’t Feel Like A Grand Slam Champ
26 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
By Scoop Malinowski
Elena Rybakina won the most prestigious title in tennis this summer but, incredibly, she now feels disappointed by the experience which should have been a dream-come-true, thrill-of-a-lifetime.
“It was my dream to win Wimbledon. It’s a pity. I feel like actually I’m not the Wimbledon champion,” Rybakina said at her US Open press conference this week. “It takes time to realize but when you’re going from tournament to tournament, this is how you feel.”
It’s alarming that a Grand Slam champion hero like Rybakina is feeling this way not even two months after she shocked the world by beating Ons Jabeur in the final.
“I don’t think that it’s fair.”
Rybakina was denied of the 2000 rankings points she should have won at Wimbledon because the ATP and WTA decided to punish Wimbledon for banning Russians from competing this summer at the AELTC, due to the war vs. Ukraine. But by canceling Wimbledon points this year and reducing the tournament to essentially an exhibition with no points did not punish Wimbledon in any way, it more hurt all the players who did well.
“Of course we cannot change it. It was a decision before.”
Since winning Wimbledon, Rybakina has played a couple of WTA tournaments and found herself assigned to play on the small, outer courts, not the main stadium befitting of a Wimbledon champion.
Rybakina directs some of the blame at the tennis establishment. “I think this is the problem of the structure of the WTA Tour. Honestly – a bit weak leadership.”
Interestingly, Rybakina also pointed out examples of unhappiness of other top players in the WTA. “(There are) examples when a player is actually young and they did amazing results but in the end decides to quit tennis. So this is the question – Why is it happening?”
Surely, Rybakina was hinting at former WTA world no. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who shockingly retired from tennis earlier this year while she was the dominant champion of the sport.
Dysfunction is rampant these days in the WTA Tour and unfortunately Rybakina knows about it all too well.
The WTA has been called “a despicable organization” by a former top ten ranked player.
adidas · Elena Rybakina · US Open · Wimbledon
catherine · August 28, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Barty is an exception. As most people surely know she won the Wimbledon juniors and then took a break from the game. So at the start she was making her own decisions for her own reasons. After coming back to the tour and winning the events she most wanted Ashleigh weighed things up, gave her personal life priority and retired for good. This was the life she decided was best for her and really nothing to do with the WTA.
Players come and go on both the ATP and WTA tours – and always have done, going back many years. They all had their reasons. It’s not a life for everyone.
I think the WTA is often inefficient but I wouldn’t call it ‘despicable’. I’d need examples for that.
Sam · August 28, 2022 at 2:57 pm
Speaking of dysfunction, Scoop, did you read the recent article about how Andrea Jaeger was sexually harassed by other women in tennis, forcing her to leave the tour?
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/andrea-jaeger-wta-career-harassment-foundation-b2107934.html
Scoop Malinowski · August 28, 2022 at 3:56 pm
Catherine, let’s not go through this again. Barty quit the first time because she was losing and failing. The second time she was winning and from my view, very happy on the tour with her team and she never showed one hint of a sign of unhappiness. I think she was forced out by unknown or secret reasons. Now we know the wta tour is dysfunctional and “despicable” according to at least one player and now Andrea Jaeger revealed she was harrassed as a teenager by aggressive lesbians. There clearly is a dark side to women’s tennis that has been kept secret.
Scoop Malinowski · August 28, 2022 at 3:58 pm
Sam, No I had not even heard of this tragic story about Jaeger and the aggressive lesbians who terrorized her career. The tennis media totally ignored this story, wonder why. Because they have an agenda to promote homosexuality as a great wonderful thing?
Cyndy · August 28, 2022 at 9:33 pm
Thanks Scoop Malinowski and also Sam for sharing info on here.,much appreciated too… and speaking of Ash Barty, I thought she was playing great and winning all of her matches so was wondering why she left tennis after winning the AusOpen this year., although she had other interests like golf on the side etc but still it was astonishing to hear that she was retiring from the game. Probably it’s right then that the word dysfunctional should apply to certain factors that have directly or indirectly contributed to a player leaving.
Sam · August 29, 2022 at 1:39 am
Scoop, a few interesting points:
1) I wonder why Jaeger doesn’t want to name the former WTA staff member who harassed her? I think she’s probably too nice.
2) I wonder who the “senior player” is who saw one of the incidents?
3) The worst part of all is that they actually threatened Jaeger when she reported the problem!! 👿
4) Yes, promoting homosexuality is probably part of it, as well as sweeping any corruption in the sport under the rug. I bet that if someone like Coco Gauff or Serena came out with tales of being harassed by lesbians, though, the media would be all over it!! 😛
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 7:04 am
Sam, it’s a horror show and it has to be exposed and condemned. ASAP.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 7:06 am
Cyndy, I met Barty and interviewed her and she was a total class champion, never saw her upset or irritated by anything in tennis, first class champion all the way. She was too good for this sport, or the forces that control it.
catherine · August 29, 2022 at 8:15 am
Scoop – I’m looking forward to you exposing this ‘horror show’ which has never existed at any time in tennis except in the minds of tabloid journalists and persons who enjoy those kind of stories.
There is no evidence that Ashleigh Barty was ‘forced’ to leave the game. It is an utterly ridiculous idea.
Andrea Jaeger has been telling her story for decades. All lies and fantasies. I can speak with some authority because I was around pro tennis in those years.
You were not.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 10:00 am
Catherine, When a former top ten player says “the wta is a despicable organization” it carries more weight than your evaluation, no disrespect. There also is no concrete evidence or confessions Monica Seles being stabbed was an inside job or that OJ killed Nicole Brown Simpson. Catherine you may have been around the sport but you were not an insider. And there have been other accusations and whispers about parents of young wta players being fearful of older lesbians trying to seduce their daughters. I have heard first hand accounts. It’s always been a problem but of course it’s kept secret.
catherine · August 29, 2022 at 11:07 am
I’m not going to hang around this site arguing about stuff I think is untrue and distasteful gossip.
It might surprise you to learn that women don’t behave like that – they are not sexual predators. Men are, women, except for very rare instances, are not. These stories are older than time.
What do you mean by ‘insider’ ? I wasn’t a player or a reporter but I edited a tennis magazine in the days when the game was smaller and you came across a lot of people in all sorts of positions. And every year around W’don we had hacks from the tabloids coming to us for juicy titbits. If we didn’t have any, they’d make them up. I also knew some players quite well.
The problem with conspiracy theories is that they are closed systems, they can’t be proved true or untrue. So eventually
they become pretty boring.
All these accusations about older women should be laid to rest. I’ve never come across one single verified incident in my (fairly) long life. The WTA should not be slandered in this way. If you’ve got proof, produce it.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 11:14 am
Catherine, it happens and in case you didn’t know, women and men are equal, there are no differences. I know for a fact homosexual women making advances on young wta players is an element of the wta but it’s kept secret and never talked about. Jaeger revealed it but you don’t want to accept it. I have heard of two other examples. Will try to collect more. At some point I will do a story on it. Because it’s happening. And it’s time that it’s exposed.
catherine · August 29, 2022 at 11:55 am
Fine. Go on and expose it. Names, dates, places. ‘For a fact’ – can you say that in court ?
I can’t wait for your story. Lawyers will be rubbing their hands.
And for an example of how false accusations can affect someone’s life just Google ‘Cliff Richard’.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 12:18 pm
Catherine, you dismiss Jaeger’s accusations as if she’s a lunatic. Give her some respect. She has no motive to fabricate her story. She has no history of unstable, bizarre behavior or drug use. I interviewed her once and found her to be a solid, honorable, admirable person. She has devoted her life to charity work and helping kids. It’s very easy to keep things under wraps in tennis. You probably never knew Mirza and Paes had a secret relationship. There’s a lot of secrets in tennis Catherine, don’t be so naive.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 1:01 pm
Catherine, I find it odd you reject Jaeger’s accusations. Women are always supposed to be believed, right? Here is a quote from an insider: “there always were groups of lesbians who would test the youngsters to find if they had any inclination…”
catherine · August 29, 2022 at 1:10 pm
It is very easy to keep things under wraps in any field, but for the most part why should we care ?
Yes, many people have secrets and sometimes hide them very well. They can show you whatever they like in an interview.
And no, I’m not naive. I’m simply not that interested in situations where anyone can say anything about someone and in the end there’s no reality at all.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 1:15 pm
Murray gets off to a good start vs Cerundolo. Zhizen Zhang too. Paul loses first set but wins second. Sakkari beats T Maria. 18s champ Eleanu Yu goes down to Riske 62 64. Federer sent a pair of his shoes to Ben Shelton, Nike’s not ON.
catherine · August 29, 2022 at 1:20 pm
I’d really like to end this coversation before I get lost in the fog of rumour and unprovable occurrences. BTW funny how ‘insiders’ are always anonymous…..
One reason I always rejected Andrea’s ‘accusations’ is that no one else believed them.
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 1:24 pm
Catherine, in the cultural climate today and even back then, stories of aggressive packs of locker room lesbians preying on young girls is one story the leftist media is going to cover up immediately. Similar to the Jeffrey Epstein client list of elite pedofiles is never ever going to see the light of day. Some stories are off limits because they destroy the leftist narrative. Back to tennis, impressive performance by JJ Wolf to take out Agut. Have a feeling we are going to see a lot of major upsets this week.
Sam · August 29, 2022 at 4:50 pm
Scoop, although I am indeed not following any tennis right now, I did want to respond to something that you wrote. 😉
I interviewed her once and found her to be a solid, honorable, admirable person.
That’s cool—didn’t realize you ever interviewed Jaeger! Who knows . . . maybe you’ll be able to land another interview with her in the future.
As for the idea that she merely “fabricated” the abuse allegations, that’s just plain ridiculous. Yeah, I’m sure she just made up all the stuff about the authorities getting her sister’s scholarship at Stanford revoked too. 🤡
So, let me get this straight—tennis itself is sparkling clean, but Jaeger herself is just a dirty liar. Well, if you honestly believe that, then I have Mount Rushmore to sell you. 🌄 🐥
Scoop Malinowski · August 29, 2022 at 8:18 pm
Well said Sam. Fascinating how they just don’t want to believe Jaeger.
Tortured player of the day was Zhizen Shang who lead 76 63 and seven match points on Rijthoven but lost 67 16 46. Seven match points blown. Yibing Wu did take care of business with 31 seed Basilashvili 64 64 60. Wawrinka retired down two sets to LL Moutet who lost to Wu in qualies in SS.
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2022 at 12:40 am
Catherine: Emma got knocked out tonight, not a big surprise, the pressure was too much and Cornet is a giant killer. As for the other topic…
Marty Secada: There was a book written about this at the time, right. One female tennis player of that generation owns a plane and is famous for flying young female tennis players to tourneys who she is grooming. It really is a jungle. I think women’s tennis now has a thorough chaperoning system for young girls due to the outrage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubyfruit_Jungle
Bob Lutz: They never talk about how these young girls are pressured in the locker room. This has been happening since the 60s.
catherine · August 31, 2022 at 2:35 am
I know all about those stories. Still tosh.
Men like to hear them of course. That’s the real reason these fantasy tales make the rounds.
Why don’t you raise the topic with Martina ?
catherine · August 31, 2022 at 2:44 am
And do you honestly think, reading Andrea’s farewell comments, that she’d say those things if she knew that the WTA was actually a paedophile’s paradise ?
No, she wouldn’t.
https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2770440/andrea-petkovic-announces-her-retirement-after-us-open
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2022 at 7:48 am
Catherine, If you want to steadfastly deny this never happens in the wta you have that right. But then there’s reality.
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2022 at 7:57 am
Petko is one of the most liked and beloved player in the wta and media, she is simply fantastic with the media, as my Biofile with her illustrates.
https://www.tennis-prose.com/articles/biofile-the-andrea-petkovic-interview/
She never had any controversy in her career and would never dare to expose any darkness of pro tennis. She is one of the best diplomats and ambassadors the wta ever had. If she ever had any issues with older players grooming her or making advances on her, she would never talk about any dirty laundry, or it would not have bothered her. Still wish Petko did not abandon her Petkodance, that was a lot of fun. But some players were offended by it as being too cocky and rubbing it in. But it was fun. Like the Ali Shuffle, the fans loved it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfSa7DlwxxY