In February 2020, as Elena Rybakina’s rise up the rankings became impossible to ignore, she and her coach, Stefano Vukov, made a mischievous bet during the Qatar Open. If she won Wimbledon, he said, he would get a tattoo of her name. She recorded his pledge, but then forgot about it. Covid struck soon after, and instead she spent the next two years trying to recover her form.
Today, Vukov carries Rybakina’s name and the date of this year’s Wimbledon final in indelible ink on his right arm, a permanent reminder of this golden summer. A month ago, Rybakina capped off her startling rise to the big stage in July by winning her first grand slam title at Wimbledon.
