World No. 1 Elena Rybakina has commented on her surprise second-round defeat at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, infohub.kz reports.
At a press conference, the Kazakh tennis player explained that an extremely tight schedule and accumulated fatigue were behind the setback. According to her, many things happened after her victory at the US Open, and she had almost no time for proper sleep and recovery.
"Today was a very tough day on court. After winning the US Open, a lot has happened, and I've had almost no time to get proper sleep and recover. Congratulations to Alina, she played a great match. Toward the end of the match I started to feel some discomfort in my foot, so I'll need time to recover. I also need to see what the schedule looks like for the next few weeks. Thank you to all the fans for their support. See you in Beijing next year," Sports.kz quoted the athlete as saying.
Rybakina also said she intends to take a one-week break to recover, after which she plans to return to competition.
"I'll take a week of rest now. I hope that during this time my foot will fully recover and I'll be able to play the remaining tournaments and finish the 2026 season," she said.
Recall that the day before, Elena Rybakina lost in Beijing to Armenia's Alina Charaeva — the world's 118th-ranked player.