But despite her momentous first Grand Slam win in London in July, she describes her Wimbledon-winning experience as “not the greatest” and says she feels like “not the Wimbledon champion”.
Typically, Rybakina’s world rankings would have skyrocketed after the Wimbledon win – one would have expected her to crack the top 10 another year. However, the 23-year-old has fallen to No. 25 in the world.
And ahead of the US Open, which begins on Monday, Kazakh Rybakina expressed dissatisfaction with life since her first Grand Slam win.
“It was my dream to win Wimbledon,” Rybakina told reporters in New York on Friday. “It’s (a) a shame. I feel like I’m not actually the Wimbledon champion.”
She added: “I don’t think it’s fair. Of course we can’t change it. It was a decision made beforehand. I’m not just talking about myself, but in general I think with all the decisions, a lot of players are paying for all these decisions.
“In a tournament I’m playing against the greatest champion, (Garbine) Muguruza, and we’re playing on Court #4. That’s something of a (a) question for me.”
She also lamented that her time as a Grand Slam winner in the past has not been on par with others, explaining that if ranking points had been awarded and she had climbed into the top 10, played on better places, she would have been treated differently and would have been better planned.
“From experience I would say it wasn’t the greatest.”
Rybakina, who was born in Russia but has represented Kazakhstan since 2018, shocked the tennis community when she defeated No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final last month.
And while she became Kazakhstan’s first-ever Grand Slam champion, the ban on ranking points meant she missed out on 2,000 points towards the WTA Race to the Finals – women’s tennis season-ending event – where she would have finished runner-up if she had received them.
The top eight qualify for the finals, but Rybakina is currently 20th ahead of the US Open, giving her an uphill battle for October’s event.
“It’s about everything. It’s about the points. I don’t think it’s fair,” Rybakina said.
“Knowing that from today I would be number 2 in the race and I can’t play the race, I don’t think it’s fair. I’m not just talking about myself, but in general I think with all the decisions that many players pay for all those decisions.”
US Open No. 25 Rybakina begins her bid to win back-to-back Grand Slam titles on Tuesday, playing France’s Clara Burel in the first round.