Tennis
“What a disgrace”. Russian tennis player made clowns out of Wimbledon organizers
Elena Rybakina / Photo: © Rob Newell – CameraSport / Contributor / CameraSport / Gettyimages.com
Kate Middleton had to present the trophy to a native of Moscow.
Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam tournament in 2022 that was held without the participation of Russian tennis players. The British authorities did everything to prevent members of the royal family from congratulating Daniil Medvedev or any of our guys on the victory.
However, the sensational success of Elena Rybakina, who plays for Kazakhstan but trains in Moscow, “blew up” the Western media. They were especially indignant in Britain, calling what happened a “shame” and a “nightmare”.
“What a disgrace”
If this season, the organizers of Wimbledon, under pressure from the WTA and ATP, allowed Russian tennis players to compete in half, a year ago they were more determined. Even the sanctions and the removal of rating points did not stop the British. It would seem that they have created comfortable conditions for themselves, when the Russians would not intersect with members of the royal family. Their plans were destroyed by Elena Rybakina, who took and won Wimbledon 2022.
This hardly anyone could have imagined. The girl, born and living in Moscow, constantly progressed, but the victory at the Grand Slam tournament was still a surprise. Rybakina changed her citizenship in 2018 for the sake of better funding, while physically remaining in Russia. This could not have been known in the UK, so the reaction to Elena’s victory turned out to be incredibly violent.
“What a shame and the worst nightmare the British authorities have experienced this summer. She won nearly £2 million, an amount that will be taxed in the UK, but tennis executives will not be pleased to give this check to someone who has very close ties to Russia, The Sun wrote.
“It turned out to be extremely embarrassing that the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, presented the trophy to a tennis player who was born, raised and, as we know, still lives in Russia,” Daily Mail journalists noted.
“This victory will surely be celebrated in the corridors of the Kremlin”
Former British tennis players were also indignant. In particular, the victory of Rybakina caused not the most pleasant feelings in the famous John McEnroe, who admitted on the air of the BBC that, in addition to anger, the success of the Muscovite causes irony.
– The organizers of Wimbledon paid the WTA a million dollars for the exclusion of Russian athletes. And all this was in order for the Muscovite playing for Kazakhstan to win the tournament, and our Duchess of Cambridge was forced to personally give her the award. This victory will certainly be celebrated in the corridors of the Kremlin,” McEnroe said.
It was not only the British media that escalated the situation. Thus, the American edition of The Wall Street Journal stated that “Elena Rybakina left no choice to the organizers of Wimbledon”, hinting that the plan to remove the Russians failed miserably. The Polish politician Janusz Korwin-Mikke spoke much more rudely.
“If Mrs. Rybakina had chosen Polish citizenship instead of Kazakhstani, then you brainless people would still carry her in your arms!” he said on social media.
And this is only a small part of how the topic with the ex-Russian was handled. But ordinary people in the comments to the publications mostly ironic and laughed at the British government. And this is perhaps the main result of the removal of Russia.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Tennis
Elina Svitolina – Linda Klimovichova. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
They will face each other in the second round of the Australian Open on January 21 Elina Svitolina (WTA 12) and Linda Klimovichova (WTA 134).
The match will start at 02.00 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Elina Svitolina
Ukraine had as many as six representatives in the Australian Open main draw, but only Svitolina managed to get past the first round. The tennis player started here with a 6:4, 6:1 victory against Spaniard Buksha. There were difficulties in the first match when we had to come back from 1:3.
So far Elina’s season is going well, she took the cup in Auckland, her winning streak has already reached six matches. In the first match of the tournament, the Ukrainian player had only 49% of the first serve and made half as many errors as his opponent.
Ukraine’s first racquet is currently in good shape but has yet to face top opponents this year. If she is successful in the next match, Elina will face the winner of Tallia Gibson – Diana Schneider.
Linda Klimovichova
The Polish tennis player has been actively playing on the tour since 2022, but only now has he managed to get into the main draw of a major tournament for the first time. Here Klimovichova started with the qualifiers, where she did not lose a single match; The Australians passed in the order of Webb Sem – 6:2, 6:1 and Carbera – 6:4, 7:5. In the qualifying final, a 6:4 and 6:4 victory was achieved against Belgian Minnen.
Already in the main round the Polish woman defeated the British Francesca Jones, her opponent withdrew, losing 2:6, 2:3. Klimovichova was remembered for her active play in her last match, which was not completed, she achieved 24 wins, 8 against her opponent. Psychologically, this will not be difficult for a Polish woman; They don’t expect much from him.
To guess
The athletes had never met each other before, which is not surprising, since Polish women play very little in top-level tournaments. Svitolina is the favorite of these two, but Klimovichova can perform well in tennis.
Although the Polish athlete is 10 years younger, Elina should have no problems with endurance. Although the bookmakers are confident in the success of the Ukrainian athlete, I would take a total bet of more than 18.5 matches for 1.71.
Elina Svitolina01/21/2026 –
02:00
Linda Klimovichova 1.71 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
All first round matches ended on January 20 Australian Open 2026. According to the results of the matches, they could not advance to the second round. 15 seeded players.
On the third day, two seeded tennis players and three seeded tennis players left the major. Tallon Grikspor completed the men’s competition [23] and João Fonseca [28]and for women: Maya Joynt [30]Leila Fernandez [22] and Lyudmila Samsonova [18].
The seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open 2026 on January 20:
- R1: Tallon Grixpor [23] – Ethan Quinn – 2:6, 3:6, 2:6
- R1: João Fonseca [28] – Eliot Spizziri – 4:6, 6:2, 1:6, 2:6
The seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open 2026 on January 20:
- R1: Maya Joynt [30] – Teresa Valentova – 4:6, 4:6
- R1: Leila Fernandez [22] – Janice Tjen – 2:6, 6:7 (1:7)
- R1: Lyudmila Samsonova [18] – Laura Siegemund – 6:0, 5:7, 4:6
Top seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open after the first round:
- Felix Auger-Aliassime [7]
- Jiri Legechka [17]
- Flavio Cobolli [20]
- Tallon Grixpor [23]
- Arthur Rinderknesh [24]
- Brandon Nakashima [27]
- João Fonseca [28]
Top seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open after the first round:
- 🏳️ Ekaterina Aleksandrova [11]
- Emma Navarro [15]
- Lyudmila Samsonova [18]
- Marta Kostyuk [20]
- Leila Fernandez [22]
- Dayana Yastremskaya [26]
- Sofia Kenin [27]
- Maya Joynt [30]
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
39-year-old French tennis player and husband of Elina Svitolina Gael Monfils (ATP 110) Withdrew from the 2026 Australian Open.
The Frenchman lost to the Australian in four sets in the first round of the major tournament in Melbourne Dane Sweeney (ATP 182) in 3 hours 54 minutes.
Australian Open 2026. 1/64 finals
Dane Sweeney (Australia) [Q] – Gael Monfils (France) – 6:7 (3:7), 7:5, 6:4, 7:5
Monfils played on the Australian Open courts for the 20th time. For Gael, this was his last match at the Australian slam; He will retire in 2026.
Gael’s best results at the Aus Open are quarter-finals in 2016 and 2022. Sweeney will face eighth seed Ben Shelton in the second round.
“First of all, thank you very much. My journey started with you in 2005 – that’s when I first came here. Now the year is 2026 and somehow this is already the finish line. Thank you very much for this amazing journey. You were incredible. Thank you very much. I have very good memories here… Great battles. I am lucky to have played here for many years.”
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Kazakhstan’s Kairat lost their chance to qualify for the Champions League playoffs
Elina Svitolina – Linda Klimovichova. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
15 seeded players were eliminated at the end of the first round at the Australian Open
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