Google News Jill Craybas identifies why Elena Rybakina is at times underrated, overlooked
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 2562
Jill Craybas thinks Elena Rybakina is flying under the radar only because she is quiet and doesn't draw any attention to herself. Since July, Rybakina has been to two Grand Slam finals - she has made three WTA 1000 finals - this Monday she reached a career-high ranking of No 4 in the world.
On the court, Rybakina is very quiet - rarely shows any emotion - and she never finds herself in any type of controversy or drama. So far in 2023, Rybakina has been absolutely impressive but the feeling is that the Kazakh is still getting overlooked by the media at times.
Craybas, a former world No 39, thinks Rybakina deserves to be given her credit and mentioned the Kazakh as one of the French Open favorites.
Craybas on why Rybakna is underrated
“Obviously Swiatek would be the clear favorite.
The fact that Rybakina just won Rome. I was listening to as well, people saying if she’s underrated or not. I think it's because of her personality and the way she approaches every tournament. She’s not one of those that’s going to be in your face.
Very mild-mannered and very soft-spoken so I think it’s easy to sometimes forget about players like that but you have to throw her in there," Craybas said during a conversation with Rennae Stubbs for Sports Talk, via Sportskeeda.
After naming Rybakina and Iga Swiatek as the French Open favorites, Craybas noted Aryna Sabalenka is also up there. "Sabalenka obviously coming off the Australian Open title and how she backed that up, which to me has been really impressive because after you’ve been wanting that first slam for so long, sometimes those expectations can get a little heavier but she’s handled it extremely well, winning Madrid.
So I think she has got that capability," Craybas said. Rybakina and Sabalenka met in the first Grand Slam final of the year in Australia.
