Aryna Sabalenka is to Iga Swiatek what Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were for Novak Djokovic, says Boris Becker
Former World No. 1 Boris Becker has praised Iga Swiatek for her success and predicted that she can win double-digit Grand Slam titles if she stays motivated.
Swiatek's first tour-level title came at the 2020 French Open. A year later, she added two more titles at the WTA 500 in Adelaide and the WTA 1000 event in Rome.
The Pole also qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals for the first time in 2021. She then rose to the top of the WTA rankings last year after Ashleigh Barty announced her retirement and has not been knocked off her perch since.
The 22-year-old has since won three more Majors (French Open 2022 and 2023, US Open 2022), along with WTA 1000 titles in Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami, and Rome. In all, she has 14 WTA titles to her name along with four runner-up finishes.
Former German pro, Becker, who holds the record for the youngest (17 years, seven months) male Wimbledon champion, believes that Swiatek can win many more Grand Slams in her career if she remains motivated to stay competitive after achieving considerable success at a young age.
"She is only 22 years old, and she still has her whole athletic life ahead of her. So I see no reason why she can't win ten or 15 Grand Slam titles if she stays motivated," Becker told Eurosport.
"That's always the big question, especially when you have success at such a young age. Do you still feel like repeating yourself in five years or do you have to keep reinventing yourself? But from the way she plays, her attitude, her fitness, I don't see any reason why she shouldn't reach double-digit Grand Slam wins," he added.
Swiatek has rarely been challenged in the biggest matches so far. She has a 4-0 record in Grand Slam finals, making her just the third woman (after Monica Seles and Naomi Osaka) in the Open Era to win her first four Major finals.
Referring to the case of Big 3, Becker opined that Swiatek will need other players on the tour to play at a high level and challenge her, to make sure she doesn't drop her competitive levels.
"The question is the rivalry; the women need it as much as the men. For [Novak] Djokovic, [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer were important, and for Swiatek, it will be important that [Aryna] Sabalenka continues to improve, that Muchova continues to play well, Ons Jabeur, I also want to mention here, Coco Gauff, I would also like to see in the final again," he stated.
"For me, these are the best women, and when there is healthy competition, then the players really enjoy it. They are all competitors, they want to measure themselves against each other, and that is also a good sign for Swiatek," he added.
Iga Swiatek's former coach believes Pole will have more Slams than Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina in 10 years
Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina have heralded the arrival of a 'Big-3' in women's tennis — at least in the eyes of fans and pundits. The trio currently holds all four Grand Slams, Swiatek with the French Open and the US Open, Sabalenka with the Australian Open, and Rybakina with the Wimbledon Championships.
While many, like Boris Becker, expect Sabalenka and Rybakina to go toe-to-toe with Swiatek in the coming years, the Polish World No. 1's former coach Piotr Sierzputowski believes that she will achieve a lot more success in the next decade.
Sierzputowski has also predicted that Swiatek will win more Grand Slam titles than Sabalenka and Rybakina.
"The heart says that Iga will be the best, but the mind says that it is not known. For now, Iga has the best start, she has four titles, and they have one each. In addition, Iga is younger - Sabalenka is born in 1998, Rybakina in 1999, and Iga in 2001," he said.
"So I think that in 10 years, Iga will still have the most Grand Slam titles. Even if she's still four," he added.