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2014 French Open semifinalist Andrea Petkovic fears 24-year-old Elena Rybakina may get football superstar Harry Kane’s reputation of “not delivering when it matters the most” if some things keep repeating.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, started her 2024 season by winning the Brisbane International and making the Adelaide International quarterfinal before shockingly losing to Anna Blinkova in the Australian Open second round. When Rybakina returned to action during this month’s Middle East swing, she won a WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi – finished as runner-up to Iga Swiatek in the final of a WTA 1000 tournament in Doha – before being forced to withdraw from her Dubai quarterfinal match due to a gastrointestinal issue.
Addressing Rybakina’s results and the way her campaign at a WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai ended, Petkovic acknowledged that the Kazakh has had some great results this year. But Petkovic also underlined that Rybakina has to schedule her tournaments the way that it allows her to be at her very best in the biggest tournaments because she is a top player and people mostly care about how she does on the biggest stage.
“That’s bad luck. That’s kind of bad luck but still it’s this theme of…
