Elena Rybakina showcased her dominance once again at the Eisenhower Cup. She teamed up with American Taylor Fritz in the mixed doubles, and the duo won the annual charity event for the second year in a row. They defeated American Learner Tien and Amanda Anisimova 10-7 in the final that was held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. While the match went smoothly, it was during the trophy celebration that a major controversy broke out.

As the officials congratulated the winners during the ceremony, a man was seen placing his hand around Rybakina’s waist. The 26-year-old quickly moved his hand away, but the moment went on to become a big talking point. Rybakina looked uncomfortable at the moment, which left her fans enraged. However, she has now finally broken her silence on the incident and has surprisingly downplayed it.

“Nothing really happened. It probably just looked like this, but nothing happened,” Rybakina said at a press conference. While the Kazakh managed to pick up a solid victory before the Indian Wells Open, the result got overshadowed by the awkward moment that occurred after the match. But the question that remains is who the man was who was standing beside Fritz and Rybakina on court?

Turns out it was the senior vice president of Eisenhower Health, David Renker. The medical organization sponsors the Eisenhower Cup every year at Indian Wells, and Renker had participated in the trophy celebration as a part of the event’s sponsorship activities. He has yet to respond to the controversy.

On the other hand, even though it was a charity event rather than a major tournament, the win was quite important for Rybakina, as she aims to make a deep run at the Indian Wells Open. While she did begin the year on a high and became a two-time Grand Slam winner by emerging victorious at the Australian Open, her form dipped a little in the competitions that followed.

Elena Rybakina’s performance after Australian Open

Rybakina will next participate in the Qatar Open, where she is one of the favourites to clinch the title. However, she was stunned by the Canadian sensation Victoria Mboko in the quarter-finals. It proved to be a cracking contest that went right down to the wire. However, the 19-year-old showcased incredible resilience to win the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

The Dubai championships didn’t turn out any better for Rybakina. She faced Croatia’s Antonia Ružić in the Round of 16 and made a strong start to the contest by winning the first set 5-7. However, her opponent fought back in the second set and won it by 6-4. Ružić continued this momentum in the third set and broke Rybakina’s serve right away. While the match could have gone down to the very end, the Kazakh’s body had other plans.

She immediately called for the physio after her serve was broken. Rybakina appeared to be struggling physically and thus decided to retire from the match. “[I have] nausea. I ate, but in the morning I had a heavy head, and I didn’t sleep well. So I’m going to stop,” she had told the physio.

While she clearly hasn’t been at her best in the last two tournaments, the Indian Wells is a great opportunity for her to get back into form. But the World No.3 failed to give a convincing performance against the USA’s Hailey Baptiste in the Round of 64.

After edging the first set 7-6, Rybakina got totally dominated in the second set and lost it 2-6. However, Baptiste failed to capitalize on the opportunities she had and won only 3 break points out of 10. Rybakina made a strong comeback in the third set and won it 6-2 to clinch the match.

She wasn’t quite satisfied with the performance and explained why it was tough to play on the slow court. “Well, I was a little bit rushing on the serve since it was windy. So I was just trying to play point at a time and not focus so much on the score, because in these conditions, anything can change quickly. Yeah, it’s slow courts, quite heavy balls. It’s not easy to move them. Yeah, I was just trying to stay in the match. Dropped a little bit of energy in the second set, but overall, happy that I found my way in the end.”

The victory has seen her set up a clash against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the Round of 32 at the Indian Wells. It remains to be seen whether Rybakina can put in a strong display this time and move into the Last 16.