Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have been impressive so far but their rise doesn't concern Iga Swiatek who is focusing on herself.
Iga Swiatek is a two-time champion of the Italian Open and if she wants to become a 3-time champion she'll have to go through Elena Rybakina. They will play on Wednesday in Rome for a spot in the semi-final and the Polish superstar will hope that things go better this time around compared to last time.
Last time it was Rybakina who emerged victorious at the Indian Wells handing a devastating loss to Swiatek. We're on clay so things favour Swiatek more this time but it won't be easy. Rybakina has been one of the best players this year but that doesn't intimate Iga. She'll mostly treat it as any other match focusing on her prep most.
I would say for now I don't have any mindset. For sure I'm going to get into the mood tomorrow. For now, I'm just focusing on recovery. No, I would say, like, it's kind of neutral. I just want to treat this match as any other one. I don't have, like, any expectations. I'm just going to come out and play the best game possible. Yeah, that's all. Nothing special, honestly.
There has been a lot of talk about the budding rivalries on the WTA Tour, mostly Swiatek - Rybakina and Swiatek - Sabalenka. She faced both of them this year and lost to both of them which certainly adds more spice to it.
It's not something she's preoccupied with as she tends to focus mostly on her own career and what she can do to become better. The rise has been noticeable but that's just tennis. Things move quickly and in a few months, we might have totally different top 5.
I know that there are players that are more solid throughout the whole season. You can see that from rankings, also from how they play. But it's tennis, so I think, like, everything can shift pretty quickly. I'm more, like, really focused on myself. I don't really look at other players that are playing well. I'm just aware that it's tough to play against them. Doesn't really make sense for me to overanalyze that.
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