“Hope the third time is a charm” – Elena Rybakina pens note following second successive Miami final defeat

Elena Rybakina, accompanied by her sister and her team, which included coach Stefano Vulkov and physical therapist Stefan Duell, humbly recognized her remarkable journey to the finals of the 2024 Miami Open.

Despite a strong effort, she was defeated in the final clash against Danielle Collins with a final score of 7-5, 6-3 in favor of the American.

At the moment, Rybakina holds the 4th position in women’s tennis and is known for her versatile playing style that combines both power and finesse. Her powerful serves, which can reach speeds over 200 km/hr, and her skill in executing a variety of groundstrokes and volleys at the net, were crucial in her victory at the 2022 Wimbledon tournament and her runner-up position at the 2023 Australian Open.

Rybakina took to Instagram to share a photo with her sister and team, celebrating her presence in the final of the 2024 Miami Open. Expressing her determination to clinch the title after two consecutive second-place finishes, she captioned the photo with:

“I hope the third time is a charm. See you next year @miamiopen.Thank you for the amazing atmosphere and support these two weeks.”

Despite playing the longest-ever tiebreak in the history of the WTA 1000 finals, Rybakina was ultimately defeated by Petra Kvitova in the final of the 2023 Miami Open.

“A Strong Showing in Miami”: Elena Rybakina Reflects on Her Success at the Miami Open

During the post-match press conference, Elena Rybakina praised her performance in reaching the finals, noting that she had not expected to do so due to her physical condition and lack of match fitness prior to the tournament.

“Yeah, very tough match, but as I said, we were not expecting for me to be in the final with all the circumstances and that I didn’t play so much before the tournament. So overall I think it’s a positive week, and yeah, it was a lot of good matches. I’m happy with that.”

Upon being questioned about her physical state, Rybakina promptly expressed that her quarter-final match against Maria Sakkari had left her feeling physically exhausted. She also mentioned that the tournament schedule made it challenging for her to have enough time to fully recover.

“No, of course after I think match with Maria, it was already difficult physically. I was feeling the body, of course………. So the schedule was also up and down, and recovery, it doesn’t help, for sure.”

The Kazakh responded to a question about which final loss was more disappointing by acknowledging that last year’s circumstances were different from this year’s. However, she expressed satisfaction with her performance in both cases, despite the final outcome.

“Here I was happy with two good matches, and then again I came to the final. So pretty much I wouldn’t say disappointing. I think last year and this year, it’s good result.”