Gorges on Rybakina: 'I really like her way of playing tennis'

Former world number nine Julia Gorges has picked Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina as her favourite player in the women’s singles category. The 25-year-old was once regarded as one of the candidates to become the best player in the world in women’s tennis but has struggled with fitness concerns in the recent past.

Former world number nine Gorges has recently spoken to Tennis 365, where she talked about her favourite player in the women’s singles category. Interestingly, the 36-year-old, who finished her career with five titles, picked Rybakina as her favourite player ahead of the likes of the reigning world number one Aryna Sabalenka and five-time Grand Slam winner Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

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“I really like Elena Rybakina because I can relate to her way of playing tennis,” she said. “She plays without compromise. Unlike her groundstrokes and her serve, she can do better at the net. I like those sharp, saturated shots and that good serve. I think that’s how you win Grand Slam tournaments. Rybakina doesn’t hope for it, she plays for it. I really like Iga Swiatek athletically, with the way she moves. I haven’t seen Aryna Sabalenka for a while. She trains incredibly hard and has been improving over the years. She [Sabalenka] fully deserves her place at the top of the world rankings – but if I had to pick one, it would be Rybakina.”

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Rybakina had a relatively below-par outing in the 2024 season, according to her high standards. She played 53 matches across all competitions, winning 42 and suffering defeat on 11 occasions. She won three competitions, but all of them were held before May. Her last triumph was the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she defeated Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2.