WTA Miami: Elena Rybakina in the footsteps of Serena Williams
Should Elena Rybakina actually manage to win the Sunshine Double, it will also be due to her most powerful weapon: the serve.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Mar 29, 2023, 07:54 am
It's actually never a bad thing to be mentioned in the same breath as Serena Williams. Elena Rybakina still has a lot of work ahead of her if she aspires to complete her career at Grand Slam tournaments anywhere near as successfully as the legendary American. Rybakina only stops with exactly one major victory, Serena, who was widely believed to have said goodbye to tennis at the past US Open, at 23.
So take a look first. And Elena Rybakina, who is well on the way to getting the Sunshine Double, has achieved values in Miami as a server that are reminiscent of the great Serena Williams. The 23-year-old, who was born in Moscow and started for Kazakhstan, hit at least ten aces in her first four matches in the current WTA Tour 1000 tournament. Serena had recently managed to do that at the US Open 2020.
Serena fails despite the aces
Sure: If you look at the statistics, things are very clear: Rybakina started against Anna Kalinskaya with 14 direct serve points, against Paula Badosa (in this game Rybakina had to fend off a match point) it was only twelve. And in the following games against Elise Mertens and on Tuesday against Martina Trevisan only ten.
In the end, however, it's not about the number of aces - it's about winning the tournament. And in this regard, Serena Williams didn't help her serve strength almost three years ago in Flushing Meadows. She lost to Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.
Here is the individual tableau in Miami
miamimap