ROLAND GARROS

May 22, 2026

Elena Rybakina

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Elena, welcome back to Roland Garros. Just give us your thoughts on your preparation for this tournament.

ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, the practice here has been going well, so super happy and excited to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Just how are you feeling on clay after obviously all the warm-up tournaments? You've had good results at this tournament before, but what's your sort of comfort level on clay and playing the kind of tennis you want to play on clay right now?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I think it's getting better and better every day, every practice, so hopefully I can show it here on this tournament and go far as I can.

Q. Obviously the conditions are very different depending on the tournament. I'm curious, how do you like Roland Garros compared to the other clay court events?

ELENA RYBAKINA: The courts are really nice. It all depends on the weather. I think for now it's going to be very good weather, which is great. No rain delays hopefully and staying all day on site.

Yeah, I think here, about the courts, nothing I can complain about.

Q. As I understood it, you're participating in the player protest today, right, and only doing 15 minutes? Is that correct or no?

ELENA RYBAKINA: You want to keep me here for longer?

Q. I can try. No.

ELENA RYBAKINA: I don't think that. I usually do more than that, so I won't call it as a boycotting.

Q. Is there a reason why you wanted to participate in it, or are you not doing it at all?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, I'm doing what's necessary, as always. I'm definitely on the players' side, and I definitely support all the players in this case.

Q. The French Open seems to be more open than ever on the women's side this year. Aryna is No. 1. She always plays well here. Coco has the defending title. Svitolina just won Rome, and you are the champion in Australia. In your opinion, I know it's kind of general stuff, but in your opinion who is the real favorite of Roland Garros?

ELENA RYBAKINA: I honestly don't think about it so much, because, of course, I think everyone wants to win. I just focus on myself, on my practices. It's tough to say who is going to win since we know there is a lot of great players, so we can tell only and know in a couple of weeks.

Q. I know this is a few months ago, but I'm curious, the Kazakh figure skater who won gold in the Olympics in Italy, Shaidorov, what do you think of him, and what it's like to be sort of at this bigger moment obviously you with winning Australia, also this great start to the year for Kazakh sports?

ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, it's great for Kazakhstan. I was really happy. It's amazing, because I think in figure skating they've been waiting for this medal a very long time, so it's unbelievable achievement.

I'm just very proud that in other sports the Kazakh flag is raising on the biggest stages.