QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 16, 2024

Elena Rybakina

Press Conference

E. RYBAKINA/A. Pavlyuchenkova

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Elena, congratulations. It's your second-in-a-row final in two weeks. How does it feel to reach that stage here?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Thank you. Yeah, really happy. Very tired, I have to say (smiling).

But, yeah, will try to push myself tomorrow. We see how it's gonna go.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations, Elena. You won eight matches in a row, a title in Abu Dhabi and another final here. Must be proud of you, but do you feel a little bit exhausted after all these matches?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, for sure it's not easy to play everything in a row, but as you said, I'm really proud of myself and also the work we have done with the team. It's very good already two weeks for me. No matter the result of tomorrow, I think we can take only positive.

Yeah, we see just how it's going to be tomorrow.

Q. What is your main goal this season? Because you won two titles this year. Do you see yourself as a No. 1 this year?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I think it's too early to say, but of course that's one of the goals, to become No. 1 one day. I don't know when it's gonna happen, if it's gonna happen, but that's for sure the goal.

Q. The final tomorrow, what do you expect in this match? Because Iga feels here very well. She has not lost a match here since 2020. How about your strategy?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I didn't know about this stat (smiling). I mean, as I said, for me the most important is try to recover physically, because with Iga, it's a lot about the physics, of course.

She's making you work for every point, and of course I need to stay aggressive and play my game, but we see what can I do tomorrow.

Q. Last year you have beaten three times Swiatek. You know the right formula to beat her?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I think we both know each other pretty well, and of course we trying to study and analyze.

For now it was going my way, but as I said, she's playing really good. I think she's a little bit fresher than me, that's for sure, but I mean, as I said, for me it was already a very positive two weeks, so I try to push myself tomorrow and see how it's gonna go.

Q. Is there anything you would borrow from Djokovic, any segment of tennis?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I think there is a lot what I could take from Djokovic (smiling). For sure the return and just I think the mentality on the matches.

But I think very a lot you could take from him.

Q. Obviously you are very good on hard court, but everybody said that every hard courts are different. Here it's, like, slower than Melbourne or other surfaces. So how do you like or do you dislike this surface or slow hard court or maybe you prefer faster court? How do you say about that?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, of course I would prefer faster courts to make the rallies shorter, but I would say that I feel very comfortable here. I would say that in Abu Dhabi it was even slower. So I feel comfortable playing here.

Q. In your last press conference, you said that you're not so well in the Australian Open and the tournament before. I was wondering, you said you were not feeling very well, what was the problem?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I had some issues in Melbourne with my foot, and then during the match I was a little bit compensating and then I felt my back.

I mean, it happens. I think even though I would have win, if I would have win that match, it would be difficult for me to continue in Melbourne.

I had to take 10 days off after Melbourne, so I didn't do anything. Then I had one week of preparation before Abu Dhabi, week or maybe ten days.

So, I mean, it happened. Pity that it happened in a Grand Slam, but I'm playing well. I started the season well. Feeling good now. So hopefully I continue like this without any problems.

Q. I remember in 2020 you had three weeks full of tournaments: St. Petersburg, Dubai, and here. You had to withdraw from Doha. Comparing to four years ago, are you stronger physically? You can take these kind of tournaments one after the other?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I think for sure I'm stronger physically. In 2020 I was still young, and I think not many players knew me. I was just upcoming, so it's more difficult when everybody knows you to play against. But for sure physically I'm much better now, so that's improvement.

Q. Eight wins in a row is quite impressive. You did talk about physical fatigue, but what do you do about your mental fatigue and being very far away from home?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, both things connected, for sure. It's not easy when you're physically a little bit tired or down in some moments, but I'm just trying to focus on the important points, these close moments on the court.

Since my game is aggressive, I try to serve it out. For now it was working, it was going my way, so yeah, we see.

Q. So you faced Iga Swiatek in Grand Slam and also in Rome. Do you expect any changes maybe between facing Swiatek in Grand Slam or in a Masters 1000?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I think that there is no difference when we play on which stage of the tournament. Everyone wants to win, and I think everyone is going to push as much as they can no matter how they feel.

So I think she's very good player, dangerous player no matter when to play her.