“Toughest rival for Iga Swiatek?” New coach picks Elena Rybakina over Aryna Sabalenka

Sunday, 15 December 2024 at 07:30

Iga Swiatek’s new coach, Wim Fissette, shared his opinion on who is the toughest rival for his player and chose Elena Rybakina over Aryna Sabalenka. The Polish player has dominated most of her rivals, but there are still a few who have the upper hand over Swiatek in the head-to-head (h2h) record.

Swiatek has been the most dominant player over the last three seasons, although Sabalenka has managed to close the gap and even surpass her in the current WTA ranking, finishing the season as world No. 1. The Belarusian is the player Swiatek has faced the most in her career, with a total of 12 encounters and a 8-4 record in favour of the Polish player.

Rybakina vs. Swiatek: A challenging rivalry for the Polish

Recently, Wim Fissette answered a round of questions with the Polish media Przegląd Sportowy, where he was asked who he considers to be the 'most difficult' opponent to beat on the WTA Tour for his player, whom he has been coaching since the fall of this year. “Rybakina,” Fissette quickly replied, the former coach of Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep.

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Swiatek has a 46-18 record against top-10 players, a more remarkable statistic when considering her 28-7 record against top-5 players. However, Rybakina has proven to be the toughest to beat, as she is the only player currently in the top-10 with a positive record against the Polish player, 4-2. The only player with a better h2h record is 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who leads Swiatek 4-0 in their head-to-head matchups.

Swiatek and Rybakina faced each other twice this season. The Polish player first won the WTA 250 Doha Open final 7-6(8), 6-2. Later, in the semifinals of the WTA 500 Stuttgart Open, Rybakina surprised everyone by claiming the win on the clay court 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, which was Swiatek’s only loss on this surface this year (with a 21-1 record).