There were plenty of smiles when Iga Swiatek was asked for her opinion about Aryna Sabalenka, but ultimately the Pole feels their rivalry is what the WTA Tour “has been kind of missing”.
Swiatek and Sabalenka have been the best and most consistent women’s players over the past two years as they are the only two who have topped the WTA Rankings since Ashleigh Barty tired in 2022.
The Pole has spent 125 weeks at No 1 – including a stint of 75 consecutive weeks – while Sabalenka currently sits on 25 weeks, having taken over from her great rival in October last year.
They have also dominated in terms of Grand Slams with Swiatek winning four while the Belarusian sits on three.
Initially, their rivalry appeared to be a tense one, but they have enjoyed several off-court moments in the past few months and even trained together at one point late in 2024.
So there is no doubt that they are becoming friendly away from tennis and when asked for her opinion on Sabalenka, Swiatek initially made light of it before getting serious, stating: “What do I think about Aryna? That’s a tough one (laughs). I’ll be diplomatic. No, I’m kidding,” she said.
“It’s nice to have such a great athlete as an opponent. We’re both pushing each other and we’re both creating some great entertainment sometimes when we’re playing against each other.
“I think we are something WTA has been kind of missing for a while because we have this great rivalry, and the fans are excited every time they see both of us.
“I think it’s great that we play tennis so well and just push each other, and that’s really helpful, for sure, in anybody’s career to have an opponent like that.”
After initially struggling to fulfill her potential, Sabalenka has managed to take her game to a new level in recent years with her coach Anton Dubrov supported by fitness coach Jason Stacy and hitting partner Andrei Vasilevski while Shane Liyanage is the data scientist and Gavin Macmillan the biomechanics coach.
“Well, I think Aryna’s team is one of the most professional I’ve seen on tour. They’re kinda taking care of everything, similar to me, I would say,” the world No 2 said.
“I think because of the people we have around, we both can really progress and really become great athletes and without them, for sure, it would be much tougher because we need professional people and people with knowledge to guide us sometimes and show us what is right or wrong.”
