Elena Rybakina facing huge Australian Open injury scare – ‘It doesn’t seem too good’
Elena Rybakina has revealed her back injury is “not so good” after suffering a major scare during her Australian Open third-round win.
Sixth seed Rybakina dispatched 32nd seed Dayana Yastremska on Saturday, defeating the Ukrainian 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second week in Melbourne for the second time in her career.
World No 7 and 2023 Australian Open finalist Rybakina has so far made light work of her draw, having convincingly dispatched Emerson Jones and Iva Jovic in her opening two matches.
However, the Kazakh is a significant injury doubt ahead of her fourth-round clash against 19th seed Madison Keys.
Despite what seems like a straightforward win over 2024 semi-finalist Yastremska, Rybakina received a medical time out to deal with a back issue during the contest.
Speaking in her post-match press conference, the 25-year-old conceded that her injury was a huge concern.
She said: “I don’t know yet, of course, it’s not so good, since it’s lower back but hopefully we can do everything possible in this one and a half day – but for now it doesn’t seem too good to be honest.
“I will see my physio and hopefully he does some magic.”
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Rybakina is set to face Keys on Monday, with the American making round four following a 6-3, 6-4 win over 10th seed and compatriot Danielle Collins inside the Rod Laver Arena.
The pair have met four times previously with the head-to-head tied at two wins apiece, though it is the world No 7 who has triumphed the last two times they have faced off.
Rybakina will surely hope the injury is not too serious after serious disruptions caused by physical struggles and illness across her 2024 campaign.
She was forced to withdraw from her round two clash at the US Open last September due to a lower back issue, and did not play again until the WTA Finals and Billie Jean King Cup at the end of the season.
Rybakina was also dogged by illness across 2024, being forced to withdraw from her Indian Wells and Italian Open title defences due to health issues.
However, despite her struggles, the Kazakh still managed to reach the last four of Wimbledon and the last eight of Roland Garros, alongside winning three titles.
The Kazakh is provisionally back up to world No 5 in the WTA Live Rankings, and could potentially return to her career-high of third should she win the title and other results fall her way.
Rybakina has already bettered her result from the Australian Open 12 months ago, where she was stunned in the second round by Anna Blinkova.
