Elena Rybakina admits 2024 has been a ‘challenging year’ after she pulled out of her third tournament in a row.
The world no.4 confirmed on Sunday that she will not be participating in the China Open, which is a WTA 500 event held in Beijing. Rybakina hasn’t played a Tour-level match since her first round win over Destanee Aiava at the US Open. She later pulled out of the Grand Slam due to what was a unspecific injury at the time. Since then, the Kazakh announced she is struggling with a back problem that has also ruled her out of the Korea Open and now China.
“Due to an ongoing back injury, I regretfully have to withdraw from the upcoming Asian tournaments,” the former Wimbledon champion said in a statement.
“While I’ve been working hard on my recovery, my medical team and I have decided it’s best to prioritize my health at this time.
“This has been a challenging year and I am grateful for the support from the tournament organizers and all of my fans. My team and I will work on getting me back on the court before the season finale.”
Rybakina’s physical woes come during recent speculation surrounding the departure of her former coach Stefano Vukov, who she stopped working with shortly before the US Open. Vukov is no longer on the list of WTA coaches and there have been rumors of his suspension on social media which has not been proven. He is yet to comment on his departure and Rybakina was reluctant to speak about the matter earlier this month.
“Well, I don’t want to talk about it too much, but yeah, that was our decision, to split.” She told reporters in New York.
On court, the 25-year-old has won 41 out of 50 matches played since the start of January. She has won a trio of WTA titles in Abu Dhabi, Stuttgart and Brisbane. In the major events, her best run was to the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Rybakina, who is now in danger of losing her fourth position to Jasmine Paolini, has yet to confirm what tournament she plans to begin her comeback at.
