To hear the softly spoken Elena Rybakina off court, it would be hard to fathom that the 24-year-old has one of the most power-packed shots in women’s tennis. 

But place a racket in her hand and Kazakhstan’s top player doesn’t hesitate to utilise the booming serve that fired her to a tournament-high 64 aces on her way to becoming the 2022 Wimbledon ladies’ champion.

Rybakina launched her title defence with a Tour-leading 315 aces already fired this season ­­– closing in quickly on the 380 aces she served in the whole of last year.

There were 12 more of them as the No.3 seed emerged with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Shelby Rogers in an intimidating Centre Court match that required all her renowned firepower.

Rogers, who is ranked No.49, is known as an upset specialist, boasting seven wins over top-10 opponents. Three of them came at Grand Slams, including over Ash Barty in the first round of the 2021 US Open when the Australian was world No.1. Rybakina well understood the danger, too, having been beaten by Rogers in their last match, on the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, in 2022.

Another player was arguably also on Rybakina’s mind as eight-time gentlemen’s singles champion Roger Federer was honoured with a standing ovation ahead of the day’s play. He subsequently watched from the front row of the Royal Box alongside the The Princess of Wales.

Amid all those mental challenges was a possible physical one: Rybakina was forced to withdraw from the third round of Roland-Garros with a viral illness and, after exiting to Donna Vekic in the second round of Berlin, she skipped Eastbourne to continue her recovery.

A nervous start was therefore understandable, Rybakina opening with a double fault as she dropped her opening service game. Rogers, by contrast, was playing inspired tennis, her 13 winners coming at all the right moments as she maintained her lead to close out the opening set in 41 minutes.

But composure is also a factor in Rybakina’s rise and she called on that quality to complete an impressive turnaround. She seized immediate control of the second set, breaking the Rogers serve and calmly consolidating. She won five games in a row before eventually closing out the set in 29 minutes.

Aces and winners were flowing freely from Rybakina by then, while Rogers was frustrated by her growing error count. With another 2-0 lead secured, the defending champion quickly extended her advantage. She broke again in the seventh game, before calmly serving out victory in an hour and 42 minutes.

It was a relieved Rybakina who quietly celebrated victory, the 24-year-old saying that taking centre stage so early contrasted sharply with her steady campaign in 2022.

“The atmosphere and the attention to be on Centre Court, it's different than the last year, because last year I started on a smaller court. With every match I was playing better and better, feeling better,” she said.

“Here it's different. Straightaway you go to this big court. For me, it's now a new chapter and this is something I need to get used and try to maintain my level.”

Competing in front of Federer was also a challenge. “Maybe that's why I was nervous because actually I really like Roger. When I was younger, I was always watching him play.

“It was really special. The year after (winning the final), to be again on this court.”

It was equally pleasing to feel her health returning, after the race to be physically ready for her third appearance in the main draw at SW19.

“Physically, I'm feeling good. Of course, maybe I'm missing a bit some things here and there because we didn't put enough hours (in),” Rybakina said. “But overall I feel good."

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