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 power, the world No. 4 stays a giant challenge for her.
Since beating the Kazakh of their first assembly in 2021 Ostrava, the five-time Grand Slam champion has solely received certainly one of 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 quicker 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 “hardest opponent.” He responded by saying it was the Kazakh tennis star.
Fact 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 believe it is simply fashion of the sport. Iga, she strikes rather well and she or he likes to dominate within the rally. With me, it is tough as a result of I play quick, I play flatter, and likewise like to maneuver the opponent. So it is sort of, I believe, a matchup the place we’re each pushing one another, each making an attempt to dominate within the level. So I consider course additionally my serve helps quite a bit. That is why some matches I win; some matches I lose. However it’s all the time powerful for her to play towards me and for me to play towards her (smiling),” Rybakina defined after the match.
It is going to be attention-grabbing to see if Fissette may help Swiatek work out a greater method to compete towards Rybakina going ahead.
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