World number four Elena Rybakina has refused to continue her performance at the French Open tennis tournament. The 23-year-old native of Moscow, who has been playing for Kazakhstan since 2018, withdrew from Roland Garros before her third-round match against Sara Sorribes-Tormo.

According to the tennis player herself, she felt unwell the day before. She had a fever. She had a headache. The situation only got worse in a few days. During a visit to the doctor, she was told that she most likely had a virus that was going around Paris.

"It's hard for me to play, run, even just breathe. I can't stay on the court for more than 10 minutes. After the second match, I suddenly felt sick. Of course, I have medication and I drank everything I could as soon as I felt sick. But the body needs time. Besides, I've been playing a lot. Now I need a few days of rest," Rybakina said at a press conference.

Last July, in the Wimbledon final, Elena defeated Tunisia's Uns Jaber 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Afterwards, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF), Shamil Tarpishchev, said that Rybakina's victory in London was a merit of Russia.

In response, the Kazakh federation actually accused the official of fascism.

Rybakina herself also responded to the pro-Putin official, saying that she did not consider herself "a product of the Russian tennis school.

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