Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka praised as former No 1 makes ‘unstable’ WTA claim
Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka were the only WTA players to play “almost without slumps” in 2024, according to former world No 1 Dinara Safina.
Sabalenka and Swiatek finished the year as world No 1 and No 2 for the second straight season after both claimed Grand Slam titles in 2024.
Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open title and also triumphed at the US Open, with Swiatek prevailing for a third straight season at Roland Garros.
Swiatek’s five WTA titles and 64 match wins rank her No 1 in those categories for 2024, with Sabalenka – four titles and 56 match wins – ranked second for both.
The Belarusian finished the year as world No 1 with 9,416 points, with Swiatek at world No 2 with 8,370 points.
World No 3 Coco Gauff sits almost 2,000 points behind Swiatek, with the likes of Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, Elena Rybakina, and Jessica Pegula in the chasing pack.
Three-time major finalist Safina was at the peak of her powers during the late 2000s, when she was competing alongside modern tennis greats such as the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova.
And, speaking to Championat, the Russian claimed that outside of Swiatek and Sabalenka, the WTA was more “unstable” now than during her career.
She said: “In my time, there were more stable players. There were Serena and Venus Williams, Davenport, Mauresmo, Henin, Sharapova, Clijsters and so on.
“Everyone was stable all year round, they rarely had easy losses. The top 10 was very tight, you couldn’t touch the girls. And now someone can fail three or four tournaments and then return to the top 10.
“Now there is Gauff, Pegula, but they are all unstable. Only Sabalenka and Swiatek played the whole season almost without slumps.”
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Hampered by a back injury, Safina played her last match in 2011 before officially retiring from the sport in 2014.
Since then she has taken up a variety of roles, including working as an interviewer at the ATP Finals earlier this month, though has also spent time coaching WTA stars.
Safina further revealed to Championat that she came close to coaching world No 1 Sabalenka back in 2019, though ultimately turned down the opportunity.
“[It was] about full-fledged cooperation. We talked about Aryna in 2019, right before the US Open,” added Safina.
“She had just finished working with Dmitry Tursunov. And her agent called me and said that there was such an option, but she had to fly out immediately and start preparing for the US Open.
“I said that I couldn’t do that. But I understand Aryna, because I behaved the same way when I was a player. I also said: ‘I need a coach tomorrow!'”
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