Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek might have started as bitter rivals, but their relationship has significantly improved in recent years.
Having a rival is not easy. The Big Three of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic could speak for hours about how a bitter rival can become a very good friend.
Sabalenka and Swiatek started like that as well. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that they had some contentious moments on the tennis courts over the years, but recently, their relationship has improved significantly.
In the past, the Belarusian player almost hit her rival with an overhead, while she was also not happy about the Polish player lifting her hand to pause the play before important points.
Swiatek also spoke out against the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in certain competitions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the handshakes between the two were rarely warm.
That was at the time when Swiatek dominated the WTA Tour, with Sabalenka relatively far behind her. More recently, however, the Belarusian player started challenging for the World No. 1 spot and even took it from the Pole twice.
While it could be expected that their relationship would become even more tense in that period, the opposite thing happened. The two now often share warm embraces, even changing the cold handshakes for warm hugs.
It was really a big shift in their relationship, and they even recorded a TikTok together at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh and practiced together during the off-season.
Naturally, Sabalenka was asked about their relationship during her press conference ahead of the 2025 Brisbane International, where she’s the top seed in the draw, explaining how it recently started improving.
“Yeah, it was fun. It all started at The Finals. I asked her to do TikTok. I was, Okay, whatever, I’m going to ask and see what happens. I thought we have to stay together and have fun and just enjoy our rivalry, not be too tough on each other. So I asked. We did it.”
According to Sabalenka, the two should have a positive relationship to enjoy their rivalry, and that’s why she approached Swiatek to record the TikTok.
Since doing that, the two have held practice sessions, even recently doing a fitness exercise together, which made rounds on social media.
“Since that, we have already practiced a couple of times. Then, I was doing fitness after our hit. She was like, I can join you guys. I am like, let’s do that. We filmed it and posted it.”
“It’s been becoming more chill between us, too. I have to say she’s a really nice person. It was fun to get to know each other.”
While both chose different tournaments to start their 2025 season, Sabalenka and Swiatek might be able to test their relationship relatively soon. Both will be among the favorites to win the 2025 Australian Open, entering the event as the top two seeds.
While Sabalenka will be a two-time defending champion, Swiatek will want to make it past the semi-finals in Melbourne for the first time in her career.
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