The world No 4 Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) said she felt “devastated” by the schedule at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open tennis tournament after her quarter-final ended at 3:00 a.m. and her semifinal was moved to Sunday because of rain.
Elena Rybakina defeated Daria Kasatkina (Russia) in a marathon match that lasted 3 hours and 27 minutes, and then waited until Sunday for the next match. In it, the player from Kazakhstan lost to Liudmila Samsonova after 1-2 (6:1, 1:6, 2:6), who played the final two hours later, losing to the American Jessica Pegula.
“I feel devastated because of the program and the whole situation. I’m not happy about it, but that’s how it turned out”, said Elena Rybakina. “Unfortunately the players cannot do anything in this situation. The decision is not ours. The weather is not helping us. So I have some injuries but I am trying to recover and we will see what happens”, added she.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion admitted that the quarter-final in Montreal was the first time she had to play so late at night.
“Let’s hope that this will be the last time, because it is unprofessional for the tournament. This year there are many situations that I cannot understand”, said Elena Rybakina.
