Elena Rybakina defeated Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open

If you went past the seeds, Sunday’s result was an upset. Rybakina is ranked 22nd, but that is misleading. He received no ranking points for winning Wimbledon because the tour forfeited tournament points in retaliation for its decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players following the Ukraine invasion.

Rybakina, born and raised in Russia before switching allegiance to Kazakhstan in 2018, was not affected by the suspension, but without the 2,000 points normally awarded to the singles champion, she did not receive a ranking boost for her victory.

With those points, she would be comfortably in the top 10 and would also have qualified for last year’s eight-player WTA finals, where another main point was available.

Although she and her team petitioned the WTA to give her a wild card into the event based on her win at Wimbledon, the request was denied by the WTA.

I think he deserved it, his coach Stefano Vukov said on Sunday. And what people also don’t realize is that players get big bonuses from their sponsors for finishing in the top five or top 10, which can raise up to millions of dollars, so not getting points at Wimbledon is definitely costing him.

Representing Kazakhstan makes marketing him globally more challenging than if he represented, say, a Grand Slam country. For Vukov, that’s one reason he’s landed more Off Broadway court duties than the typical first-time Wimbledon champion.

Where you come from has a big impact on the respect you might get on tour, he said. Not to be preconceived or negative about it, but it is. Our largest market areas are the United States and China. You might get more recognition if you’re from the US than maybe from Kazakhstan, which is totally understandable. In Kazakhstan, he gets huge recognition, but globally, internationally, it affects things.