John McEnroe was left surprised at Elena Rybakina’s reaction as she defeated Ons Jabeur 3-6 6-2 6-2 to win the Wimbledon women’s title. After the Russian-born star claimed victory, she was speechless and struggled to react to winning her first Grand Slam.
“Didn’t even react that she won Wimbledon,” McEnroe joked during the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage after Rybakina won the tournament. “Someone tell her she won this thing!” Tracy Austin, on commentary with McEnroe echoed his comments: “I am not even sure that Rybakina knows she won Wimbledon!”
The Moscow-born player switched allegiances to Kazakhstan in 2018 and was able to compete at this year’s tournament. Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarussian players from this year’s event following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and had their ranking points stripped as punishment.
“I was super nervous before the match,” Rybakina said after winning Wimbledon. “During the match and I’m happy it’s finished. I ran today so much so I don’t think I need to do fitness anymore.” The 23-year-old thanked her sister, before remembering to mention her parents during her winning speech. “Without my parents, I wouldn’t be here for sure.”
Rybakina received the Venus Rosewater Dish from the Duchess of Cambridge, before Jabeur joked that Rybakina “stole” her trophy. “Elena stole my title but it’s OK,” the Tunisian told the on-court reporter. “I love this tournament so much and I feel really sad, but I’m trying to inspire many generations from my country. I hope they are listening. I also want to thank his beautiful crowd for all their support over the two weeks. It’s been amazing.”
McEnroe previously dubbed Rybakina “Russian” as he discussed with Sue Barker whether the to-be champion should have been allowed to participate. “She is obviously a huge hitter and hits the ball great,” the American pundit said in the build-up to the match. “I just think it’s weird because of this whole thing. I don’t mean to get into politics here but she is Russian, right? It is sort of strange because of this whole ordeal of not allowing the Russians to play.”
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