Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have won a combined five Grand Slam singles titles. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won
Swiatek, Rybakina and Sabalenka have been at the top of the sport for a little over a year. Some combination of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic is already in the top 20.
Swiatek, world number 1 from Poland; Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who was born and raised in Russia but represents Kazakhstan; and Sabalenka, the 2023 Australian Open champion from Belarus, still mostly known only to tennis fans. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are some of the most recognized athletes in the world.
So, with great trepidation, caution, and respect for what has gone before, anyone should use the term “Big Three” when talking about Swiatek, 21, Rybakina, 23, and Sabalenka, 25.
Yet something has been happening with this group lately in the women's game hungry for competition – something that could all come together in resounding roars over the next two weeks at the French Open. The first of the three to play at Roland Garros, Sabalenka, started her tournament with a win over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in a match tinged with wartime bitterness. Swiatek and Rybakina's first-round match is scheduled for Tuesday, with Swiatek facing 70th-ranked Cristina Bucsa and Rybakina taking on Linda Fruhvirtova, 59th-ranked 18 years old.
Since Australia's Ashleigh Barty retired while topping the rankings in March 2022 at the age of 25, Swiatek, Rybakina and Sabalenka have monopolized almost all of the most prestigious trophies. They often beat each other on their way to the winner's circle, giving tennis executives – if not the entire court – hope that the women's game may be at the pinnacle of the kind of rivalry that has been missing all along. a decade, maybe even since the time Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters battled for supremacy.
“That's what you want, the best players playing each other, time and time again,” said Steve Simon, chairman and chief executive of the WTA Tour, in a recent interview.
The rivalry that was starting to develop even had a geopolitical backdrop to add fuel and antagonism. Swiatek has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Russian invasion, helping raise millions of dollars to support relief efforts in Ukraine. He wears a pin with the Ukrainian flag on it when he plays. Rybakina and Sabalenka are from two warring countries, Kostyuk reminded Sunday.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to ravage the sport, especially whenever players from Eastern European countries most affected by the conflict compete. Kostyuk refused to shake Sabalenka's hand after their match on Sunday.
Swiatek never went quite as far as Kostyuk and other players from Ukraine, but whatever relationship Swiatek has with his two biggest rivals, it is a cold one. Swiatek said he, Rybakina and Sabalenka respected each other but had no relationship at all outside of court. Also, he says, he tries not to think about politics when he plays.
“When I think about players, personally, it doesn't help,” he said. “We didn't really have time in the game to overanalyze everything else.”
However, there is certainly no shortage of matches to analyze.
Swiatek has lost to Rybakina three times this year – at the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, and this month at the Italian Open in Rome, where she withdrew after injuring her leg early in the third set. . Rybakina went on to win the tournament.
Rybakina has provided the blueprint for taking down Swiatek, a three-time Grand Slam tournament winner. Few could pull it off in 2022, as Swiatek went on a 37 game winning streak at one point. But Rybakina is one of the most powerful players in the game, and she uses that ability to put Swiatek behind her.
“Against Iga, it's always a tough fight,” Rybakina said earlier this year. “Everyone wants to beat him.”
Swiatek beat Sabalenka in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, in April (by car at stake). Sabalenka returned the favor in May in the final at the Madrid Open.
Sabalenka beat Rybakina to win the Australian Open in January. In March, Rybakina defeated Sabalenka to win the title at Indian Wells, which is regarded in the sport as the fifth unofficial Grand Slam tournament.
“Women's tennis needs this kind of consistency to face the world number 1 and world number 2 in the final,” said Sabalenka after her victory in Madrid. “It's more intense.”
He also explained that overtaking Swiatek for No. 1 has been his main motivation for the past year and having specific targets has helped him figure out what he needs to improve to achieve them.
This is no different from the dynamic that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic experienced at the peak of their success. They know they are better than almost anyone, know the weapons their fiercest rivals carry forward and know that their first priority should be finding a way to answer them.
Swiatek says it's more fun this way, and not just for the audience. So many matches against the same tough opponents and so many familiar battle tactics turn sport into a search for solutions to very specific problems.
“It's quite exciting, because I've never experienced that in my career,” he said. “Extra motivation, for sure.”
Not a real Big Three yet, but not that far, and a lot closer than women's tennis has ever been.