Iga Swiatek admits Aryna Sabalenka’s presence is making her work harder but also downplayed the WTA Big Three talk. Swiatek, Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are the three top-ranked players in the world and some are going as far as calling them “the WTA Big Three version.” After winning her first Grand Slam at this year’s Australian Open, Sabalenka also improved to No 2 in the world.
Since then, Sabalenka has been the second-ranked player in the world and the Belarusian’s next goal is to reach the world No 1 spot for the first time in her career. 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina has also been doing notable things this year as the Kazakh ended as runner-up at the Australian Open before winning a WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells.
Swiatek on Sabalenka’s presence, the WTA Big Three talk
“I’ll admit that this was peculiar to me, because I didn’t quite understand the purpose of these questions. 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 told Przeglad Sportowy.
