Wimbledon is one of the most prestigious tournaments in tennis. The tournament played on the grass courts of the All England Club is what every tennis player desires to play at least once in their life. However, due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Wimbledon did not allocate any points to the Russian and Belarusian players participating in the tournament in 2022. Therefore, the rankings of one of the winners of the Grand Slam tournament took a massive hit. Elena Rybakina is one such player of Russian descent who suffered the consequences when the WTA declared her Wimbledon championship points null and void. This was also pointed out by Patrick Mouratoglou, ex-coach of Serena Williams. 

Serena Williams’ ex-coach makes a head-turning declaration

At the moment, we all know who the big 3 of ATP is. Many believe that the WTA also needs its own big 3 to promote its popularity. However, there is no agreement among the wider tennis community over which players are worthy enough to fill those positions.  Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, is one such person who has made his pick for the current top 3 players in the women’s circuit. Moreover, unafraid to speak his mind, he also pointed out the reason why one of the players he picked doesn’t currently feature in the top 3 of WTA rankings.

He wrote, “WTA has its big 3! Sabalenka, Swiatek, Rybakina. The third one doesn’t have the ranking just because her points from Winning Wimbledon haven’t been displayed“. 

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According to Morgantoglou, if Wimbledon had awarded her the points for winning the championship, she would have been in the top 3 of the WTA rankings.

When Elena Rybakina’s Wimbledon victory sparked a feud

Rybakina captured the spotlight when she won Wimbledon last year. While it would be a cause for celebration, a comment by a Russian official sparked a controversy. Rybakina was born in Russia but became a citizen of Kazakhstan in 2018. Shamil Tarpischev, a Russian tennis official, congratulated her and said that “We win the Wimbledon“.

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The world number 7 did not take kindly to the comments made and did not wait to criticize the official. The conflict did die down eventually, but it became a controversy into which the player was dragged, unfortunately. Do you agree with Russia’s comments?