NEW YORK : Second seed Elena Rybakina began her U.S. Open campaign with a 6-3 6-2 victory over American Thea Frodin on Tuesday, relieved to be competing in New York after an Achilles injury in Cincinnati had threatened her participation.
The Kazakh, a two-time Grand Slam champion, retired from her Cincinnati match and had not been certain she would recover in time for the year’s final major.
“I called for the physio in Cincinnati. She said the Achilles tendon was not broken, so that was kind of a good thing, but of course I still had the pain,” Rybakina said.
The 26-year-old then focused on recovery, taking a cautious approach that included seven days without tennis and limited gym work.
“We didn’t know if I’m going to be able to play here or not. I’m pretty happy, of course, that I’m playing right now, and we were taking day by day,” she said.
Rybakina looked comfortable on court as she began her bid for a third Grand Slam title and a return to the world number one ranking, although she said she would monitor how her body responded.
“Right now I feel okay. Of course we’ll see again day by day how I will wake up tomorrow,” she said.
Rybakina next faces either Czech teenager Darja Vidmanova or Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
