Rybakina has what it takes to win in Paris

It ended up being Gauff. 

Rybakina would have been just fine with it being her. So goes the nuance of the newly anointed ‘Big 4’ of women’s tennis. 

Asked who she has a tougher time with, Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka, the hard-hitting Kazakhstani answered: “I would say Aryna. We play a lot of tough matches, and she's very aggressive. She has good power. And with Iga I feel like I have more dominance in the game by my power over Iga. With Aryna, it's tougher.” 

Fourth-seeded Rybakina, back in Paris after being forced to withdraw prior to her third-round match in 2023, has reason to be confident against anyone she faces. On any surface. 

The 24-year-old may not be known for her clay prowess – her lone Grand Slam title came on the Wimbledon grass, and her other Grand Slam final came on the hard courts of Melbourne  –  but the fact that she has won 16 of her last 17 matches on clay cannot be overlooked. 

In possession of a 28-8 record on the surface since the start of 2022, Rybakina is a legitimate threat to challenge three-time champion Swiatek and Sabalenka for the crown in Paris. Despite the fact that she was forced to pull out of her Rome title defense due to illness, she’s sanguine about her chances. 

“Of course now I'm feeling much better, and it's always a pity to miss these big tournaments. But if the health issues are there, then you cannot do anything,” she said, before adding that she believes the recent withdrawal has done nothing to stop her positive momentum. 

“I have played so many matches and I think I have everything to go far in these tournaments,” she said. 

Constantly improving, steadily evolving

While practising on Court No.9 in front of an enthusiastic crowd on Saturday afternoon, Rybakina cracked booming serves and rifled returns that often landed smack on the opposing baseline. Even when relaxing, there’s a menace to her game. Her brand of aggression is casual and controlled, but lethal as well – it’s easy to see why she matches up well against the best in women’s tennis. 

Rybakina is 4-2 lifetime against Swiatek and – impressively – 2-0 against Swiatek on clay. Against Sabalenka she’s 3-6, but the World No.4 has won three of her last five meetings with the two-time major champion, and played her neck-and-neck in their last meeting, losing a tight contest to Sabalenka in this year’s Madrid semi-finals. 

Rybakina says that every experience against Sabalenka helps her gauge the efficacy of her own game. 

Just like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have done for two brilliant decades of men’s tennis, the new Big 4 of women’s tennis are constantly pushing one another – and the rest of the tour – to improve. 

“After all these tough matches, you kind of see where you need to improve and what you could have done better,” Rybakina said in Madrid. “I think it's a good thing to analyze, always. As I always say, we push each other, and I think that's great. 

“We push each other to improve.” 

World No.1 Swiatek concurs.

“There is not one specific thing,” she said when asked to assess the strength of Rybakina’s game in Stuttgart this year. “I just think, honestly, probably me, Aryna, and her are the best players on tour. 

“There are specific aspects of her game that are hard, but I wouldn't say there is, like, one specific. She's a good player. That's all.”