'Aryna Sabalenka Is A Lot Better Than Elena Rybakina' According To Tennis Legend

Wednesday, 25 December 2024 at 10:50

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byJordan Reynolds

Alex Corretja predicted that Elena Rybakina could finish as the WTA world No. 1 ahead of Aryna Sabalenka, but Mats Wilander dismissed that possibility.

2024 ended turbulently for Rybakina. She enjoyed an impressive opening half of the season, including winning three WTA 500 titles and finishing as the runner-up at the Qatar Open to Iga Swiatek and the Miami Open to Danielle Collins.

Sabalenka's withdrawal from this year's Wimbledon Championships meant Rybakina was the favorite to win a second title at SW19. She reached the semifinal but suffered a surprising loss against the eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.

After that defeat, Rybakina's season took a challenging turn. The Kazakhstani missed the Olympics with an illness and felt obliged to apologize to the country's tennis fans, who were ready to support her in large numbers.

That was followed by a massive shock a few days before the US Open. Rybakina split from her longtime coach of more than five years, Stefano Vukov, without explaining why the decision was made.

Although Rybakina and Vukov unquestionably enjoyed a successful partnership on the court, the Croatian coach often received criticism for what some perceived to be aggressive, abusive, and bullying behavior toward her during matches.

Rybakina withdrew before the second round of the US Open and did not return to the WTA Tour for more than two months, making a comeback at the WTA Finals. A well-known journalist claimed she had psychological problems during that time.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion is preparing for the 2025 season with new coach Goran Ivanisevic. However, many of her fans were enraged to see Vukov in the stands for a match containing one of Rybakina's teammates at the recent World Tennis League.

Sabalenka enjoyed the best season of her career in 2024. She secured the Australian Open and US Open titles and finished as the year-end world No. 1 for the first time, overtaking Iga Swiatek in the season's closing months.

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The Belarusian's epic rivalry with Swiatek, which included the Pole winning one of the greatest WTA matches ever in this year's Madrid Open final, meant many were interested when Sabalenka broke her silence about Swiatek's one-month doping suspension.

Wilander, Alex Corretja, Tim Henman, and Laura Robson predicted who would win the women's singles at the Australian Open and finish 2025 as world No. 1 on Eurosport. Corretja answered both questions before being asked about the world No. 1 and made an interesting comment.

Wilander: "Aryna Sabalenka will win yet another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. That makes it three in a row."
Robson: "I'm going Sabalenka."
Henman: "The AO on the women's side is going to be won by Zheng (Qinwen)."
Corretja: "I'm going to go for Rybakina. I'm actually thinking she might as No. 1 this year."

The other three former players then predicted who would finish No. 1, and Wilander made it clear that he disagreed with Corretja about Rybakina.

Wilander: "Aryna Sabalenka is a lot better than Elena Rybakina, Alex."
Robson: "I think Sabalenka again."
Henman: "(Iga) Swiatek is going to finish No. 1."