Iga Swiatek’s new coach Wim Fissette named Elena Rybakina because the Pole’s hardest opponent and never Aryna Sabalenka.
Whereas the Pole achieved nice success within the final three seasons and established herself as a dominant pressure, the world No. 4 stays an enormous concern for her.
Since beating the Kazakh of their first assembly in 2021 Ostrava, the five-time Grand Slam champion has solely received one among their previous 5 conferences – all of these 5 clashes got here throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
And never solely that Rybakina dominated Swiatek on sooner surfaces and owns a 4-2 head-to-head, however she additionally beat the four-time French Open winner after they met on the clay courts of Stuttgart earlier this yr.
Fissette, who began working with the present world No. 2 in October, spoke to Przegląd Sportowy when he was requested to call the Pole’s “toughest opponent.” He responded by saying it was the Kazakh tennis star.
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina© YouTube screenshot
Reality be informed, the Polish tennis star owns a optimistic head-to-head towards Sabalenka since she has received eight of their 12 conferences.
Rybakina answered why she feels she is a troublesome opponent for Swiatek
In April, the 2022 Wimbledon champion grew to become the primary participant since 2021 to beat the world No. 2 in Stuttgart after clinching a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory within the semifinal.
“I think it’s just style of the game. Iga, she moves really well and she likes to dominate in the rally. With me, it’s difficult because I play fast, I play flatter, and also like to move the opponent. So it’s kind of, I think, a matchup where we are both pushing each other, both trying to dominate in the point. So I think of course also my serve helps a lot. That’s why some matches I win; some matches I lose. But it’s always tough for her to play against me and for me to play against her (smiling),” Rybakina defined after the match.
Will probably be attention-grabbing to see if Fissette can assist Swiatek determine a greater method to compete towards Rybakina going ahead.
