Elena Rybakina Withdraws from Roland Garros with Illness

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina’s Roland Garros is over.

Rybakina withdrew from the French Open prior to today’s scheduled third-round match vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo due to a viral illness.

“I was not feeling good already yesterday and the day before, so I didn’t sleep two nights and had some fever,” Rybakina said. “Today I really tried on the warmup, but I feel that the right decision is to withdraw, because it’s really tough to play with these conditions.”

The fourth-seeded Rybakina reached the finals in two of her last three Grand Slams. Rybakina lost a tight three-set final to Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in January.

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— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2023

En route to last month’s Rome title, Rybakina knocked out world No. 1 Iga Swiatek for the third time this season. Rybakina’s withdrawal now clears a major obstacle in the top half of the draw for the top seed.

“Of course I’m really upset not be able to play, but I guess that’s life. There is a lot of ups and downs,” Rybakina said. “Today I just wanted to give 100%, and obviously I’m far from being 100% .

“I saw the doctor, and they said that actually it’s all a virus here in Paris. Yeah, I guess with my allergy, immune system just went down and I picked up something. As I said, I was not sleeping well two days. I had fever, headache. I mean, I think you can hear also. So, yeah, it’s difficult to perform and obviously to run and even breathe. So I think that was the only right decision I could make.”

Reigning Wimbledon champion Rybakina said she will now focus on recovery and hopes to return during grass-court season.