Titrée à Stuttgart il y a une dizaine de jours, Elena Rybakina (n°4) a eu toutes les peines du monde à se défaire de sa compatriote Yulia Putintseva, 50e à la WTA. Cette dernière menait 6-4, 6-7(4), 5-2 avant d'exploser. Surtout, la 50e mondiale a manqué deux balles de match avant de finalement craquer et subir une remontada. Rybakina a montré une fois encore son caractère et sa combativité pour aller chercher une huitième victoire de rang. Putintseva peut s'en vouloir. Avant cette semaine, Rybakina n'avait jamais dépassé le troisième tour. La voilà en demies.
Video : @MutuaMadrid Open
Video : @MutuaMadrid Open
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SportTranscription
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Well, honestly, I didn't play my best, of course.
00:08 I feel very tired and happy that in the end,
00:12 I pulled through the match and managed to win.
00:16 But at 5-2, it wasn't easy.
00:20 And I think I already was without any emotions.
00:23 And I was just trying to do what I supposed to do.
00:27 And it turned out with a win.
00:30 Well, yeah, I didn't panic at all.
00:32 I mean, at 5-2, not much you can do.
00:34 I had the opportunities for a second set.
00:37 We were both fighting.
00:38 And as I say, I was really tired.
00:43 I think these tournaments, which became so long,
00:47 it's not very helpful, I will say.
00:49 Because if you fit, you fit.
00:51 You're going to play every day.
00:52 And the tournament finishes.
00:53 But to stay in one place for almost two weeks,
00:56 and it's not like here you finish and then you go rest.
01:00 You go and you play another mandatory event.
01:02 And that's definitely not making it easy.
01:05 And yeah, I mean, I was not there with the legs,
01:09 definitely.
01:10 In the match, she's a tough opponent.
01:12 She's a fighter.
01:14 And she was playing well.
01:16 And yeah, in the third set, it was very quick
01:21 when I started to lose these three games in a row, 5-2 down.
01:25 And yeah, after that, I think I just
01:28 didn't have any more emotions, no frustration, or nothing.
01:31 I was just going for every point.
01:33 I was trying to do what I was supposed to do.
01:35 And then whatever happens, happened.
01:37 And I won the match, too.
01:39 I definitely don't have any pressure,
01:41 because I think I'm playing well.
01:44 And it's just always the question
01:46 how you feel physically, mentally.
01:48 And I mean, the general public, they see us play.
01:52 Of course, they don't know how tough
01:54 it is to be on the tour and how tough it
01:56 is being a tennis player.
01:58 But some weeks are good, some weeks are not.
02:01 So I mean, you cannot go always up.
02:04 So I knew that I'm going to lose a match.
02:08 And today, I was very close to lose.
02:10 And it didn't happen.
02:12 I'm really proud that I managed to turn around the match.
02:20 And also, of course, with the help of the team
02:23 and everything.
02:24 But yeah, as I said, it's becoming very tough,
02:28 and physically, mentally.
02:30 And the most important for me to try to recover.
02:34 And yeah.
02:37 You touched on it in your first answer.
02:38 You said that at one point today,
02:40 you played without emotion.
02:41 Just wanted to understand whether that's
02:43 a good thing or a bad thing.
02:45 Well, honestly, I won't say that it's a good thing.
02:48 Because I think it's nice when you are always
02:52 hungry to win, when you really want to do best.
02:56 But when you are already at the point where you are so tired,
02:59 that at 5-2, you're just, OK, if I'm going to lose,
03:02 I'm going to have some vacation.
03:03 Because the next tournament is coming.
03:05 So this is what I was trying to say about the tour.
03:08 That I think for the players, that's not the best.
03:11 If you want to see good quality of tennis,
03:13 if you want to see players play long the career,
03:16 not finish early, maybe as Ash did.
03:20 I think, in my opinion, it will be nice to change something.
03:25 Of course, public wants to see good tennis, good quality.
03:28 But for the players, it's not easy.
03:31 I mean, of course, I'm not here to complain.
03:34 I'm playing, I'm making good money.
03:36 But I mean, I will say that it's not the best thing when
03:43 you are kind of without emotions and you're just
03:48 in remote control going to play.
03:52 (upbeat music)