"When Evert calls them Roger, Rafa and Novak, I can see what she means": Wilander ranks Swiatek as Rafael Nadal of 'Big Three' in Women's Tennis alongside Sabalenka and Rybakina
ATP
Mats Wilander thinks that Iga Swiatek will be the Rafael Nadal of the WTA big three which should feature her alongside Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
Those three have been the best players so far on the WTA tour and it has not even been close. All of them play on a higher level than the rest of the WTA Tour and they only lost to each other this year. Wilander believes it's going to be a big three in women's tennis moving forward as he said to Eurosport:
"That's an incredible credit to Sabalenka, Rybakina and Swiatek. When Chris Evert calls them Roger, Rafa and Novak, the 'big three' already, I can see what she means because they all have their own weapons, and when they are playing at their best, I don't think there is a women's player out there that can disturb them at the moment."
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He added:
"I think you need someone like [former world No. 1] Justine Henin to be able to destroy the rhythm that Sabalenka, Rybakina and Swiatek get into sometimes. There are different surfaces where they're going to be better and I think they've proved that already. I think Swiatek is going to be dominating, and she's going to be the Nadal of the 'big three'.
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And some more:
"I think Sabalenka needs a little bit faster courts because I believe that she moves a little bit better than Rybakina, but she's not as consistent in terms of her strokes and her serve. So a faster court would be better for her, which is still the Australian Open. And now you see Rybakina, she can play on anything. Absolutely. And she might be the one in the end that the other two are most worried about because Rybakina is calm, huge serve, so complete in terms of the groundstrokes and willing to learn more things."
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