Tennis star Elena Rybakina "lost four kilos" during severe case of Covid-19

Elena Rybakina has revealed the extent of her symptoms after she tested positive for Covid-19 in February and admitted she did not expect it to affect her as much as it did.

The Russian-born Kazakhstani was left shocked at how much the virus impacted her health, keeping her away from the court for two weeks.

Rybakina had already struggled with injury after being forced to withdraw from the Sydney Tennis Classic in January due to a problem with her thigh.

The 22-year-old had just thrashed British number one Emma Raducanu in the first round, but was unable to capitalise on her form. She pulled out of the tournament, giving Caroline Garcia a walkover into the quarter-finals.

The world number 20 was then left disappointed when her Australian Open run was also cut short due to injury issues.

Rybakina has acknowledged her bad luck, which saw her miss yet another tournament but this time due to coronavirus.

The Kazakhstani number one was forced to retire from the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy after returning a positive test. She revealed the severity of her symptoms and how much it impacted her health.

“In St. Petersburg I was, again, happy that finally I can move and can play matches,” Rybakina said of her comeback from injury. “I played one round. At night I felt really bad. I didn’t expect that Covid [was] going to be that hard for me.

“It was really, really tough. In one week I think I lost four kilos. I had a high fever — I really didn’t expect [it], I thought it was going to be much easier.”

Indeed, Covid-19 has affected a number of high profile tennis players over the course of the last couple of years. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Emma Raducanu, and Denis Shapovalov are just a few who have tested positive for the virus in