Mental & Tactical: Why is Rybakina Troubling Swiatek Explained By Mouratoglou

| by Zlatko Vodenicharov

Elena Rybakina defeated Iga Swiatek twice this year already and Patrick Mouratoglou feels like the style she plays is a problem for the Pole.

The first match happened at the Australian Open with Rybakina winning in two sets quite comfortably. The second match was played in Indian Wells with Rybakina winning that match in straight sets as well. It was an even more dominating win in Indian Wells than Australian Open and there is clearly something that bothers Swiatek when she takes on the big-serving Kazakh player.

Former coach of Serena Williams and current coach of Simona Halep, Patrick Mouratoglou discussed the WTA rivalry on his Instagram page explaining that Rybakina gives Swiatek a lot of trouble for multiple reasons; tactical and mental.

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Clearly, she (Elena Rybakina) causes her (Iga Swiatek) problems. I think there is a tactical reason and there is a mental reason. When you lose several times in a row and, in a way, badly against one player, you have this feeling that she's dangerous, that she's better than you. And its always difficult to compete well against this player.

According to Mouratoglou it's not a new phenommenon as something similar has happened on the ATP Tour, particularly with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. Similar to how facing Nadal on clay was a nightmare for Federer, so is facing Rybakina for Swiatek.

We've seen that in the past, also on the men's side, and it was interesting what was happening between Rafa, Roger, and Novak. I think that Elena Rybakina's type of tennis is a nightmare for Iga Swiatek because she needs to dominate in the rallies.

She needs to be on top of the rallies, to dictate and be the boss on the court. She's hurt by Rybakina both on her serve and then in the rallies. She (Rybakina) doesn't move back, she hits hard, she plays flat, she plays fast, and she doesn't miss much, which is a lot. So that's why Iga is very much in trouble against Rybakina.

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