Iga Swiatek motivated by Aryna Sabalenka rivalry, but plays down talk of a Big Three

Iga Swiatek believes her rivalry with Aryna Sabalenka will push both of them to greater things, but she is not keen on discussions about a Big Three in women’s tennis.

On the back of a dominant 2022 campaign during which she won eight titles – including the French Open and US Open – and also became world No 1 for the first time, Swiatek has had a lot more competition this year.

Sabalenka has stepped up to the plate and put pressure on the Pole at the top of the WTA Rankings, winning the Adelaide Open, Australian Open and Madrid Open while she also reached the semi-final at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Swiatek, meanwhile, successfully defended her Roland Garros crown and also won the Qatar Open and Stuttgart Grand Prix, although she only reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park and the quarter-final at Wimbledon.

Elena Rybakina also joined the fray as the 2022 Wimbledon winner finished runner-up at the Australian Open and won the Indian Wells Open and Italian Open to move up to No 3 in the world.

It has resulted in the media describing them as the women’s Big Three, in reference to the Big Three Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic after the trio dominated men’s tennis for more than two decades.

Although delighted with her rivalry with Sabalenka, Swiatek is not keen on comparisons with the original Big Three.

“I’ll admit that this was peculiar to me, because I didn’t quite understand the purpose of these questions,” she said in an interview with Przegladsportowy.onet.pl.

“It is known that the media also functions in such a way as to attract viewers and the creation of such a women’s Big Three will certainly help with that, and it’s certainly interesting for fans, but I think we, and certainly I, thrive by going our own way, regardless of what’s going on with the other players.

“I know that Aryna in a way has such a huge goal, she is motivated by the fact that I am now ahead of her. I’m also motivated by the fact that someone is chasing me. We’re both having a super season this year and playing really solid, so these are reasons for us to train even better, work even better and be even more professional.

“When it comes to the Big Three, the naming is so hasty, because in men’s tennis Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have achieved ‘a little’ more than us.”

Swiatek was also asked about her dip after successfully defending her French Open crown as she opened up about struggling with pressure on and off the court.

“Winning Roland Garros was kind of my goal, so I’m very proud and very happy about that,” she said. “In women’s tennis, no one has been able to defend the title in a Grand Slam tournament for a long time. I admit that there was a lot of pressure, the tournament was not easy.

“In the first matches, despite the fact that I had control in most situations, I felt that I wasn’t playing my best tennis, that I had to refine it, it had to develop during the tournament.

“I also struggled with pressure off the court. That’s why I’m very proud that we managed and won this tournament, especially looking at this final and semi-final. Tie-break with [Beatriz] Haddad Maia, return in the third set with [Karolina] Muchova. These are the situations where I actually had to show my heart and I’m glad I did.”

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