Elena Rybakina has once more criticized WTA leadership, this time in reference to the use of performance byes at the upcoming WTA 500 competition in Tokyo. Tennis fans raised frustration after realizing that Elena Rybakina was put in an undesirable position in the 2023 Tokyo Open women’s singles draw despite being the tournament’s third seed due to the introduction of a new bye system.
According to the new system, ‘Performance byes’ have been added to the competition’s main draw. These byes are intended to reward a player for a strong showing in the week before a competition.
The fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari and the fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia will go directly to the second round in Tokyo under the revised regulations, while Rybakina will play Linda Noskova in the opening round.
Rybakina blasted WTA for the change of rules and posted a story on her official Instagram account writing: “Thank you for changing the rules at the last moment. Great decisions as always @wta.”
Tennis followers expressed objections to the new rules, claiming that they are biased against Elena Rybakina. One fan wrote on Twitter: “GoodBYE WTA!!!! You’re being so unfair to Rybakina.”
Another fan noted that the seeding system is founded on the players’ first performances and wrote: “Performance bye??? Seeds are already performance-based! Why did Elena have to r1 because Garcia and Sakkari decided to play every possible tournament? It is their schedule decision.”
Another fan added some harsh words and wrote: “F* your performance byes. You get your byes by your seed and seeds are already performance-based.”
Elena Rybakina, who didn’t get bye despite being ranked higher than Sakkari and Garcia: https://t.co/bIWrAKQQtN pic.twitter.com/rlqHfVHIUO
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) September 23, 2023
Main draw in Tokyo (WTA 500), where Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina and Maria Sakkari are the top seeds.
Tokyo is trialing performance byes. Two were allocated to Guadalajara semifinalists Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari, after their seeded positions were drawn. pic.twitter.com/FvwjSM96tM
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) September 23, 2023
Elena Rybakina in 2023
Now ranked no.5, the Kazakhstani played her last match on the 1st of September when she was overcome by world no.25 Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4 in the 3rd round of the U.S. Open (draw).
Presently, during this year the Kazakhstani has a 42-12 win-loss record. Rybakina conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Indian Wells and Rome. Elena was the finalist at the Australian Open and Miami.
Elena Rybakina |
| Embed from Getty Images |
