Elena Rybakina used the offseason to get a driver’s license and then she hopped into her Porsche supercar for her first side.
Back in April, the Kazakh tennis star won the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart. As a reward, she also received a brand new Porsche since the luxurious German carmaker is the main sponsor of the Stuttgart event.
But instead of taking the car for traditional a lap on the court, the 25-year-old sat on the passenger side because she didn’t have a license.
Elena Rybakina© YouTube screenshot
However, Rybakina took care of that as soon as the 2024 season finished.
“I got my driver’s license, so that a good thing. That’s what I said earlier this year that this is one of the goals like outside of the court. So I’m really happy. Yeah, I enjoyed some car rides already,” the 25-year-old said at the United Cup.
Rybakina funnily reveals: My first ride came in a Porsche
After the WTA world No. 6 revealed that she got her driver’s license, her United Cup teammate Alexander Shevchenko hilariously interjected: “Ask her which car she was driving for the first time?”
The 2022 Wimbledon champion responded: “It was a Porsche Cayenne. Yeah, it was nice.”
Meanwhile, Rybakina made a lightning start to her 2025 season, beating Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-2 6-3 in singles on Friday.
After clinching the singles win, the former world No. 3 also returned to the court for a mixed doubles match with Shevchenko and they beat Ivonne Cavalle-Reimers and Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (4) 6-7 (2) 10-7 – Kazakhstan ended up edging out Spain 2-1 in their tie.
On Monday, Rybakina will be in action again to meet Greece’s Maria Sakkari – and if needed – she will probably again play in mixed doubles.
The Kazakh owns a 3-1 head-to-head against the Greek former world No. 3.
Tennis World USA