Rybakina, born in Moscow but representing Kazakhstan after switching allegiances in 2018, defeated Ons Jabeur in the women's final
The uncertain status of top-ranked Novak Djokovic didn’t stop Australian Open organisers from listing him as the top seed for the Grand Slam tournament beginning next Monday at Melbourne Park.
As expected, homegrown talent and top-ranked Ash Barty was given the No. 1 seeding in the women’s singles draw when the list was released on Tuesday. Defending champion Naomi Osaka is seeded 13th.
Djokovic won a court battle to compete in the Australian Open but still faces the threat of deportation because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. He’s level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 Grand Slam singles titles each. A 10th Australian Open win on Jan. 30 in the men’s final would give him the men’s all-time record.
Federer is not playing in Melbourne while he continues his recovery from right knee surgery.
Daniil Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in the US Open final last year to prevent the Serbian player from capturing a calendar-year Grand Slam, is seeded second, followed by Alexander Zverev at No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas at No. 4 and Andrey Rublev at No. 5.
Nadal is seeded sixth, followed by Matteo Berrettini.
Rybakina, born in Moscow but representing Kazakhstan after switching allegiances in 2018, defeated Ons Jabeur in the women's final
Jabeur became the world number two player and then made history as the first African or Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final
Djokovic and Kyrgios meet in a hotly-anticipated Wimbledon final today with the Serb gunning for a seventh title and the divisive Australian a first
Jabeur made history as the first African or Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the modern era
Nick Kyrgios advances to Sunday's final
Both champions had to dig deep to be in Friday's Wimbledon semifinals, writes Sumit Chakraberty
Nadal had said that he did not know if he would be fit to play against Kyrgios, after appearing close to retiring during the quarterfinal on Wednesday
The Russian-born Kazakh pummelled her Romanian opponent with rasping serves and savage forehands