"I can beat anyone if I always play like this": Confident Rybakina after dumping out World Number One Swiatek at Indian Wells

WTA
Saturday, 18 March 2023 at 14:30
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Elena Rybakina smashed Iga Swiatek to book the Indian Wells final and after the match, she exuded confidence believing herself able to beat anyone.
It's hard to argue against that because she truly looked amazing in this match leaving Swiatek very few options. You don't smash a reigning number one that easily but she was able to do so and put herself in a position to take on Aryna Sabalenka for the second time in a final this year. Beating her will be tricky as she didn't do that in Melbourne but she's confident about being able to do so if she hits this level again:
"With Iga, she's tough, really tough opponent, but when I play like this good and everything goes in, because today some moments I played, I would say, on my highest level. So yeah, there are moments where you can feel, okay, I can beat anyone if I always play like this.
Asked about what makes her so dominant when things are rolling, Rybakina pointed out her serve, the groundstrokes, and just a lot of power and force in the way she approaches tennis:
"I think just my aggressive style of the game. Big serves. Today I was pushing a lot. I think that just overall some players it's more difficult to play against."
Playing Sabalenka is exciting but also a tough challenge and she's aware of that:
"Yeah, as you said, I lost the last four times and it was always like three sets. I think just to play better in these important moments and hold the serve, because I think few times it was just because of one break. Yeah, it's gonna be not an easy match, and it's gonna be in these clutch moments I just need to play better. Hopefully now it's gonna change the score between us."

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