Rybakina poised to be among Swiatek’s challengers at Roland-Garros

Elena Rybakina is the midst of a stellar 2024 season and — along with Aryna Sabalenka — figures to be one of the top threats to world No 1 Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros.

Elena Rybakina beats Swiatek to reach the final of the 2024 Stuttgart Open Imago / Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

May 25, 2024

Elena Rybakina has never made it past the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros, but her form in 2024 suggests that may be about to change.

Aside from a dramatic loss to Anna Blinkova in the Australian Open second round (22-20 in the third-set tiebreak) and an early exit in Adelaide, Ryabkina has been outstanding this season. The world No 4 has won three tournaments (Brisbane, Abu Dhabi, Stuttgart), has reached two other finals (Miami, Doha) and most recently lost to Arena Sabalenka in a third-set tiebreak in the Madrid semis.

Illness is pretty much the only thing that has stopped Rybakina this year. The Kazakh was unable to play in both Indian Wells and Rome for that reason. However, she is apparently good to go for the season’s second Grand Slam.

“Of course now I’m feeling much better,” Rybakina said during her pre-tournament press conference on Saturday in Paris. “It’s always pity to miss these big tournaments. But if the health issues are there, then you cannot do anything.”

RYBAKINA CONFIDENT AGAINST SWIATEK

If healthy, Rybakina is one of Iga Swiatek’s biggest obstacles at Roland-Garros. The top-ranked Pole has lifted the trophy three times — all in the last four years — and has cemented herself as the heavy favorite once again thanks to back-to-back titles in Madrid and Rome. However, Swiatek is just 2-4 lifetime in the head-to-head series after losing to Rybakina in the recent Stuttgart final.

As such, Rybakina may be the only player in the French Open field who would rather be on Swiatek’s side of the draw instead of Sabalenka’s (as it turned out, Rybakina is in Sabalenka’s half).

“I would say Aryna,” the 24-year-old answered on Saturday when asked who is the more difficult opponent for her. “We play a lot of tough matches, and she’s very aggressive. She has good power. And with Iga I feel like I [can be] more dominant [with] game [and] my power over Iga. With Aryna, it’s tougher.

“Of course it gives me a lot of confidence,” she said of her 2-0 record against Swiatek on clay. “As I always say, I think I improve every year, every tournament. Of course these wins against Iga, it gives you confidence.”