“Was Jelena Rybakina’s treatment of injured Iga Świątek a lack of class or mental toughness?”

Iga Świątek did not finish the quarter-final match in Rome against Jelena Rybakina. The Polish woman scratched at 6:2, 6:7(3), 2:2. After the last action, Świątek raised her hands up, suggesting the end of the meeting, and then approached the net. Her expression clearly indicated that she felt mentally broken.

Rybakina only extended her hand

Rybakina then stood with her back to the court. When she turned around, she quickly realized that the Polish woman would not be able to continue the competition. After a while, she appeared at the net, shook her rival’s hand and went on her way, packing her things into a bag.

How different was the behavior of Iga Świątek in relation to Ons Jabeur. A few weeks ago in Stuttgart, the Tunisian suffered an injury at the very beginning of the match with the Polish woman. When she decided to walk off the court, she looked downcast. Iga Świątek immediately ran to her, began to comfort her, tried to support her.

Yelena Rybakina is famous for her lack of emotion on the court. In difficult moments of the meeting, you can’t see her nerves. There is little smile on her part, gestures of joy – even after the greatest successes such as the triumph in last year’s Wimbledon or advancing to the final of this year’s Australian Open. She’s the introvert type.

Wawrinka comforted Djokovic and Hadad-Mai consoled Rybakina

In tennis, however, it often happens that an injured player gets support from the one who was luckier and advanced to the next round. This was the case in March at a tournament in Miami, when Canadian Bianca Andreescu howled on the court due to ankle pain, and Russian Yekaterina Aleksandrova came to hug her.

It was similar in the clash between Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka at the 2019 US Open, when the Serbian surrendered the match due to injury. After the last ball, Wawrinka tried to support Djokovic, hugged him and they talked for a while.

More than a month ago, Yelena Rybakina was forced to retire in Stuttgart due to a spinal injury. Brazilian rival Beatrice Hadad-Maia comforted her with both words and gestures (a pat on the back).

Ons Jabeur behaved in a similar way towards the injured Belinda Bencic in the final of last year’s tournament in Berlin. When the Swiss resigned from the game, Tunisica wanted to console her.

One more example from this year’s Australian Open, where in the quarterfinals the Russian Karen Khachanov eliminated the American Sebastian Korda, who ended the match prematurely. The farewell to the tennis players was heartfelt.

Character, mental toughness or lack of class?

During the post-match speech, Jelena Rybakina wished Iga Świątek a “speedy recovery”. “I saw something happen in the tie-break, almost at the last point. Only I didn’t know how serious the injury was. After the medical break, she returned to the court and played the first two balls very aggressively. Then I realized that she was in pain, so she couldn’t move much, “said the Moscow-born tennis player.

For months, experts have been pointing to mental toughness as one of the strengths of the player representing Kazakhstan. – Świątek was spectacular for most of the match, but Rybakina gave another show of her mental strength, staying in the competition long enough for Iga’s level to drop – praised Rybakina after the quarter-final in Rome, Tumaini Carayol from the British “The Guardian”.

The question remains whether Jelena Rybakina’s behavior towards Iga Świątek after the match in Rome can be explained by character and mental toughness, or – as many fans of the Polish tennis player suggest – simply “lack of class”.