Canadian Open: Elena Rybakina felt 'destroyed' by tournament scheduling

Canadian Open: Elena Rybakina felt 'destroyed' by tournament scheduling
_130793809_gettyimages-1596687809.jpgElena Rybakina wore strapping on her right shoulder during her Canadian Open semi-final defeat against Liudmila Samsonova

Elena Rybakina says she felt "destroyed" by the match scheduling at the Canadian Open and accused the WTA of "weak" leadership over the issue.

Rybakina's quarter-final win over Daria Kasatkina did not finish until 03:00 local time on Saturday, with her semi-final defeat to Liudmila Samsonova delayed to Sunday because of rain.

Samsonova then lost the final to Jessica Pegula about two hours later.

"I'm not really happy about it, but it is what it is," said Rybakina.

"I feel destroyed because of the scheduling and the whole situation.

"Unfortunately, players can't do much in these situations. The decision isn't really ours. The weather wasn't helpful. So I picked up some injuries, but we tried to manage it and see how we'll go from that."

Rybakina's win over Kasatkina lasted three hours and 27 minutes and the former Wimbledon champion wore strapping on her right shoulder during her defeat to Samsonova.

The Moscow-born player, who represents Kazakhstan, blamed the WTA rather than tournament organisers over the scheduling.

The 24-year-old is not sure if she will tweak her own playing schedule before the US Open begins on 28 August.

"I think that the most important is the WTA here," she added. "Leadership [is] a little bit weak for now but hopefully something is going to change, because this year it was many situations which I can't really understand.

"I have to see how I feel and evaluate the small injuries which I have now. I have to be smart in making any decision."

World number one Iga Swiatek has previously expressed frustrations at match scheduling after her last-16 match and semi-final at the Madrid Open in May both finished in the early hours.

BBC Sport has contacted the WTA for comment.

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