Elena Rybakina recounts beating Serena Williams at French Open: Really nice memories

• Tennis News
• Serena Williams

Elena Rybakina says she only has good memories of the time when she stunned Serena Williams at the French Open. In 2021, a 21-year-old Rybakina upset Williams in the French Open round-of-16 with a 6-3 7-5 score. At the time, it was the win that gave Rybakina her first Grand Slam quarterfinal spot.

Today, Rybakina is a two-time Grand Slam finalist - has one Grand Slam title - she is sitting at a career-high ranking of No 4 in the world. Rybakina has now returned to the French Open being among the top favorites for the title.

"Well, I just remember, it's really nice memories when I played against Serena. And as I said, back then it was also my best result on a Grand Slam. I made it to the second week. Also giving me confidence that I can play good on clay.

Yeah, just happy to be back and hopefully I'm gonna go far here too," Rybakina said, per Sportskeeda.

Rybakina on having her sister Anna with her

As a successful tennis player, Rybakina is constantly on the move and constantly dealing with stress.

But having her sister Anna with her is making the life much easier for the 23-year-old Kazakh. "Yeah, I think she's actually helping a lot, because it's still a job. You practice all days, kind of the same routine. With her, if I go back to the room or we go to dinner, we can talk about something else, not only tennis.

She's very positive. Also, a lot of energy from her. So it's just nice that we are able to spend time together. And, yeah, I think she's also helping, especially if you have a bad day or something, she's the one always positive.

So it's good," Rybakina said. In the French Open first round, Rybakina is playing against rising Czech star Brenda Fruhvirtova.