Former seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander says he sees a bit of Novak Djokovic’s attitude in Elena Rybakina.
On Wednesday, Chris Evert told Eurosport that Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka could become the WTA version of the Big Three.
“That’s an incredible credit to Sabalenka, Rybakina and Swiatek. When Chris Evert calls them Roger, Rafa and Novak, the ‘big three’ already, I can see what she means because they all have their own weapons, and when they are playing at their best, I don’t think there is a women’s player out there that can disturb them at the moment,” Wilander told Eurosport.
Wilander sees a bit of Djokovic in Rybakina
“And now you see Rybakina, she can play on anything. Absolutely. And she might be the one in the end that the other two are most worried about because Rybakina is calm, huge serve, so complete in terms of the groundstrokes and willing to learn more things. But it’s the attitude that I think makes her maybe the Djokovic out of the three, meaning she’s not really worried about the other two,” Wilander explained.
Even though Wilander gave the Djokovic role to Rybakina, he believes it will be Swiatek who will be the most dominant of the WTA Big Three.
“I think Swiatek is going to be dominating, and she’s going to be the Nadal of the ‘big three,'” Wilander said.
When it comes to Sabalenka, Wilander believes the Belarusian will always be a major threat at faster courts and specifically the Australian Open.
“I think Sabalenka needs a little bit faster courts because I believe that she moves a little bit better than Rybakina, but she’s not as consistent in terms of her strokes and her serve. So a faster court would be better for her, which is still the Australian Open,” Wilander said.
So far this year, Rybakina, Swiatek and Sabalenka have shown the most on the WTA Tour.
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