It’s a happy day for Elena Rybakina. After a year of ups and downs on court, the Kazakh has finally won a title. She made a swift turnaround at the Internationaux de Strasbourg to clinch her ninth title and her first since January 2024 at the Brisbane International! Surely this calls for a celebration, right? But being a tennis player, it’s not that easy.

On Saturday, Elena took down No. 8 seed Liudmila Samsonova in a nail-biting match, winning 6-1, 6(2)-7, 6-1 in two hours and 16 minutes! The final in Strasbourg was a rollercoaster of emotions. Rybakina dominated the first set but faced a fierce resurgence from Samsonova in the second. As the match reached a crescendo, Rybakina showed mental fortitude by bouncing back in the third set, securing crucial breaks. But as it turns out, the celebrations of her fourth clay title might have to be a little impromptu!

The Kazakh will be heading straight to Roland Garros to kick off her Grand Slam campaign! Isn’t that a bit tiring? Rybakina revealed, via We Love Tennis, “We’ll probably celebrate the title on the train. In fact, I have to leave today (Saturday) because I’m playing on Monday. That way, I’ll have a day to acclimatize to the venue. I’ll also have to recover because I’m obviously tired. But this fatigue shouldn’t make me forget the good week I had in Alsace.” And what a good week it’s been!

The former World No. 3 entered Strasbourg after third-round exits in Madrid and Rome. She started her campaign by cruising past Wang Xinyu and Magda Linette in the first two rounds. Then she showed off her class against Beatriz Haddad Maia; the fourth seed defeated Haddad Maia in the semifinal, 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-2. Given her latest performance, she noted, “I’m arriving at Roland Garros with matches and a lot of confidence.” And she’ll be needing it for the year’s second Slam after what has been a tough season…

After a fourth-round exit in the Australian Open, she reached the semifinals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. She also made the quarterfinals in Doha but lost to Iga Swiatek in straight sets. After beating Samsonova—against whom she had a 1-4 head-to-head, having just beaten the Russian in Abu Dhabi last year—this win feels like the right move heading into a Grand Slam.

Her travel woes aren’t new. Remember the United Cup loss to Iga Swiatek? She cited “fatigue” as a reason, saying, “Of course it’s not easy to fly. It was, like, four-and-a-half, five hours’ flight, and then you have only day, and a half basically to prepare, to adjust.” Hopefully, with more confidence and less travel time, she’ll bounce back quickly.

But the competition ahead is fierce. How will she face it? Elena Rybakina said, “I’m going to approach the tournament match by match. I don’t even know who I’m facing in the first round; in Grand Slam tournaments, there are also players we don’t know very well.” And that’s true.

Elena has reached the French Open quarterfinals twice, in 2021 and most recently in 2024. While she hasn’t won the title, those quarterfinals mark her best results at Roland Garros. In 2024, she was defeated by Jasmine Paolini in a hard-fought three-set match. Additionally, she still holds the title of Grand Slam champion after winning Wimbledon in 2022. Will that add pressure going into the French Open? Well, she has her perspective on it.

Elena Rybakina opens up about the pressure as a Grand Slam champion

Rybakina burst onto the tennis scene at Wimbledon 2022, stunning everyone with her effortless power as she battled Ons Jabeur in a gripping three-set final. After dropping the first set, she bounced back to seize the title 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, becoming the first Kazakh player to win Wimbledon—a truly unforgettable moment. But it went downhill from there.

The constant grind of the tour started to wear on her shine. On March 30, speaking to the Tennis Insider Club, she shared how she handles the pressure after her big win: “You expect a lot from yourself. It’s not really expectations of other people. Then when something doesn’t go your way, you’re getting upset.” She also highlighted the value of a solid support system, saying, “we lose more than we win in the end of the day.”

To stay steady, Rybakina made some coaching changes. She parted ways with Stefano Vukov last year and brought in Goran Ivanisevic, only to surprise fans by reuniting with Vukov for the 2025 season. Now with the Croatian coach off her team, she is working with new coach Davide Sanguinetti. It seems like she’s in good hands.

The 25-year-old is gearing up for Roland Garros with fresh determination. Will she turn today’s triumph into a deep run on the clay courts of Paris? That’s the big question. What’s your take? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!