Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina addressed her fans after losing the Canadian Open final in Toronto, reports infohub.kz.
In the decisive match, the world No. 2 fell to Poland's Iga Swiatek in straight sets, 2-6, 3-6. Rybakina admitted she struggled to find words after such a result.
"It's hard to find words right now... I gave it my all, but it wasn't enough. I want to congratulate Iga and her team on a great tournament. Thank you to all the fans for the incredible atmosphere. I hope to come back here next time! Also, I want to thank everyone who organized this tournament. And of course, thank you to my team—without you guys, reaching the final would have been impossible! We'll keep working and moving forward," Rybakina said.
Before the final, Kazakhstan's No. 1 reached the title match by defeating American Coco Gauff in the semifinals. The match ended in three sets, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in favor of the Kazakh player.
In the final, Rybakina faced Poland's Iga Swiatek. At stake were the WTA 1000 title and 1,000 ranking points, but the Kazakh player was unable to claim the trophy.
Despite the loss in the final, her performance in Toronto allowed Rybakina to strengthen her position in the WTA rankings and narrow the gap to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Before the tournament, Rybakina trailed the Belarusian by 494 points. After reaching the final, the gap narrowed to 354 points. Rybakina now has 8,316 points, while Sabalenka has 8,670.
Rybakina also benefited from Sabalenka's early exit from the Canadian Open. The world No. 1 ended her run in the round of 16, losing to Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is ranked 19th in the WTA.
Rybakina, on the other hand, reached the final, where she lost to world No. 8 Iga Swiatek, 2-6, 3-6.