Elena Rybakina had every reason to freak out on Saturday morning.
As the No. 17 overall seed and heavy underdog in the women’s singles final at Wimbledon, Rybakina — a Russian-born player who has represented Kazakhstan since 2018 — overcame a 6-3 opening-set defeat to take down No. 3-seeded Ons Jabeur from Tunisia with 6-2 victories in each of the final two sets.
It was Rybakina’s first grand slam title and the first for Kazakhstan. At 23 years old, she’s the youngest women’s Wimbledon champion since 2011. Given that her previous best grand slam singles finish was in the quarterfinals at last year’s French Open, it was certainly an emotional moment.
