Fans usually love some close tennis matches that are very exciting to watch. One player who has had quite some close matches this year, Elena Rybakina spoke about her tough battles with one particular star, Iga Swiatek.
The two top WTA stars have faced each other 6 times in their career, including two this year. Both matches were extremely close, and each of them won a match, respectively. Their latest match was a tough battle, where Rybakina beat the Pole at the Stuttgart semi-final, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina (Via Imago)
Having faced Swiatek so many times before, Rybakina revealed that it is not easy to face Swiatek, but she knows what tactics to follow and usually goes through that against the WTA No.1. This was just one of the close battles Rybakina has played against Swiatek.
She’s a great player. It’s not easy to play against her, of course. We had so many tough battles. I don’t know. I feel like we played so many times, I mean, I know the tactic and everything that I have to do on the court so…Elena Rybakina said in a recent press conference.
Surprisingly, Iga Swiatek has always failed to beat Rybakina in those close matches. Last year, they faced each other three times, and the Kazakh has emerged victorious in all of them. However, the Pole managed to get revenge for that at this year’s Doha Open.
Both of them starred at the Italian Open and can only face each other again at the finals. While Swiatek leads the first quarter of the draw, Rybakina is part of the other half, causing a potential threat to the players there.
Elena Rybakina features in the second half of the Italian Open, chance of revenge
For the past few months, there has been one particular cycle followed in the tennis world. The top 4 players take each quarter of a tournament, and it has usually been Iga Swiatek leading the first half and Sabalenka the other half. Due to this, Rybakina ends up facing Aryna Sabalenka.
Recently, Rybakina faced Sabalenka in the Madrid Open semi-finals. Despite having a dominant run throughout the season, the Kazakh fell to the power of the Belarusian in one nail-biter of a game. The order remains the same for the Rome Open as well and Rybakina will have to face Sabalenka once again.
Nonetheless, the Kazakh enters the tournament as the defending champion and is a clear favorite heading into the tournament. After having a good run in the previous tournaments, Rybakina heads into Rome with confidence as she awaits her first-round opponent.
