Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina crashes out of US Open

The reigning Wimbledon champion has crashed out of the US Open in a massive boilover that followed a cruel snub that “doesn’t feel right”.

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has crashed out of the US Open, with unseeded qualifier Clara Burel knocking her out in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

No. 25 seed Rybakina, who was born in Russia but represents Kazakhstan, suffered a 6-4 6-4 straight sets defeat on Wednesday morning AEST, joining a long list of shock upsets in the opening round in New York.

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The 23-year-old botched six of the seven break points she earned in the opening set, registering 19 unforced errors in a lacklustre performance.

Burel, who is ranked No. 131 in the world, broke in the fifth and ninth games to clinch the first set and put Rybakina on the back foot.

And former junior world number one Burel rattled the Kazakh by winning the opening game of the second set in hot and humid conditions.

Rybakina never rediscovered her mojo — she dumped a forehand return into the net to gift Burel match point, and the French star made no mistake on the following rally.

Burel will face Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck in the second round.

Rybakina, who tallied 19 winners and a whopping 37 unforced errors, becomes the sixth seeded woman to be knocked out in the opening round of the US Open, joining two-time grand slam champion Simona Halep.

MAJOR UPSET ALERT 🚨

21 year old French Qualifier knocks out the Wimbledon Champion 🤯

Elena Rybakina loses her opening round match in straight sets 4-6, 4-6 😳#Tennis#USOpen#ElenaRybakinapic.twitter.com/LcJcm75mZ7

— Sportskeeda Tennis (@SK__Tennis) August 30, 2022

Wow.

Former top junior Clara Burel beats Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round at the #USOpen.

In a calmer day in terms of upsets compared to yesterday… a big one here. pic.twitter.com/bPX4RAJ2CL

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 30, 2022

Despite winning Wimbledon last month, Rybakina failed to boost her ranking after the WTA decided to strip the major tournament of its points in response to the All England Club’s ban on Russian players.

She subsequently missed out on 2000 ranking points, which would have pushed her into the top 10 on the WTA rankings.

Instead, her profile was only deemed big enough for her match to be scheduled on Court No. 12 in a cruel snub.

“I feel for Rybakina,” tennis journalist Jose Morgado posted on Twitter.

“Won the biggest tournament in the world, didn’t get rewarded in terms of ranking and played in the parking lot of every tournament since. Struggling. But the current Wimbledon champ playing her first match of the next Slam on Court 12 doesn’t feel right.”

She has a very level head about the situation.

“Of course, everything was new for me after Wimbledon,” Rybakina, who was relegated to Court 12 for her first US Open clash, said after Wednesday’s loss.

“Now, looking back for these few weeks, I played already tournaments, I would say it was great achievement for me. I’m super proud of my team, of course.

“Experience-wise I would say it was not the greatest. I think this is the problem of the structure of the tour. Honestly, a bit weak leadership because we have so many things going on. It was my dream to win Wimbledon. It’s (a) pity. I feel like actually I’m not the Wimbledon champion.

“It takes time to realise, but when you’re going from tournament to tournament, this is how you feel in the end of the day. Yeah, of course, it’s everything around. It’s (the) points situation. I don’t think that it’s fair.”

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Elsewhere at Flushing Meadows, American sporting icon Serena Williams claimed a 6-3 6-4 win over World No. 80 Danka Kovinic to ensure her incredible career goes for another match.

Former US Open champion Stan Wawrinka has hinted that retirement is just around the corner after he was forced to abandon his first round match against France’s Corentin Moutet.

No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was knocked out of the grand slam tournament after suffering a shock defeat to Colombian qualifier Daniel Galan.

A hasty change of outfit worked wonders for Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu as she powered into the second round, while British icon Andy Murray marked the 10th anniversary of his maiden grand slam triumph with an impressive straight sets win over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

Australian favourites Ajla Tomljanovic and Alex de Minaur also emerged victorious from their opening US Open contests.