By Aadi Nair
(Reuters) – Elena Rybakina is bidding to become only the second woman in the past decade to win back-to-back Wimbledon titles as she begins her campaign at the All England Club on Tuesday, but her preparations have been severely impeded by illness.
The third seed opens her defence against 49th-ranked American Shelby Rogers and will be looking to match Serena Williams – who won her sixth and seventh Wimbledon titles in 2015 and 2016.
However, the big serving Kazakh has only played two matches on grass following her French Open third round withdrawal due to a viral illness, which also forced her to pull out of a warm-up event in Eastbourne last month.
“The preparation we did, I would say it was good, but still not the amount of hours and work we wanted to put in,” Rybakina told reporters ahead of the tournament.
“I think we did the maximum of what we could. It wasn’t easy after the French Open because one week I didn’t do anything, then I slowly started. It’s been tough.”
Rybakina holds a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over Rogers, but with the defending champion having won both prior meetings on grass courts, she will take an edge into the encounter.
An action-packed women’s singles schedule on Tuesday also features Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka taking on Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, while last year’s losing finalist Ons Jabeur is up against Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, with two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic also in action.
ALCARAZ HIGH ON CONFIDENCE
In the men’s draw, world number one Carlos Alcaraz will look to add to his Queen’s Club title and keep his positive grass court momentum rolling as he hunts a second Grand Slam title.
“I start Queen’s with no expectation to win it, and I won it. The confidence grew a lot,” U.S. Open winner Alcaraz told reporters. “My expectations are high. I think I will be able to put the pressure on the other players, even (Novak) Djokovic.”
Daniil Medvedev, who reached the fourth round in 2021 before missing out on last year’s tournament due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, faces Briton Arthur Fery while Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on ex-U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
One of the highlights on Tuesday is a clash between two unseeded players, with former world number one Andy Murray taking on wildcard Ryan Peniston in an all-British showdown on Centre Court.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
