New achievement in the history of Kazakh sports! Kazakh top tennis player Elena Rybakina sensationally defeated the winner of 23 Grand Slam tournaments, the legendary Serena Williams. It was the first face-to-face meeting (or just clash?) between the athletes. In a match lasting an hour and 18 minutes, Rybakina was two scores ahead of her rival. With a score of 7:5, the Kazakh athlete made it to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, where she will meet with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia.
“I am so happy with a match today, and, of course, when I went on court I didn’t expect anything, I just had set a plan, which we discussed with my couch, and I just tried to follow it and it worked out today. I mean everybody laughs about my reactions, to be honest, but I mean for me it’s much easier like this, not to show any emotions but, of course, inside it’s like a lot of different emotions. I am happy, I’m just I’m really calm person,” said tennis player Elena Rybakina.
Another Kazakh sportswoman Zhansaya Abdumalik has recently managed to glorify the country at the international arena as well. The chess player won the title of international grandmaster among men. The woman won the new title at the ninth round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Gibraltar. As a result of successful performances, she managed to raise the ranking to the required 2,500 and become an international grandmaster not only among women, but also among men. Thus, Zhansaya became the first chess player in Central Asia to win such a title.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova