"Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff will become stars": Andrea Petkovic on quartet forging Djokovic-Sinner-Alcaraz-like rivalry
Andrea Petkovic recently talked about the way Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina can potentially forge rivalries that Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have between them.
Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina have firmly established themselves as the four best women's tennis players in the world. However, they are yet to kickstart the rivalries that have made the men's game compelling for audiences.
On the men's side, Alcaraz and Sinner have both proved that they can compete with and beat Djokovic. They have also faced Djokovic on multiple occasions across various prestigious tournaments. More importantly, the Spaniard and the Italian are forging a rivalry of their own.
However, according to former WTA World No. 9 Andrea Petkovic, the same has not been the case in women's tennis. In a recent interview, the German said that Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff and Rybakina need to face each other much more on the WTA Tour if they are to have era-defining rivalries.
"I see the quartet (Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina) mentioned as a tick above all the others. It would be desirable for these to play each other more often. This is the case at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, but overall it still happens too rarely," Petkovic told Eurosport.
The German also said that if changes can be made to ensure more clashes among the quartet, they will have rivalries similar to the ones between Djokovic, Sinner, and Alcaraz.
"If that changes, these players will become stars who shine beyond the world of tennis - and we will have rivalries like the one between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner," Petkovic added.
Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka lead the live race to this year's WTA Finals; Coco Gauff lags behind
Swiatek, Rybakina, and Sabalenka are in pole position at the moment in terms of the live race to this year's WTA Finals. Gauff, despite still being the World No. 3 on the WTA Tour rankings, is behind her rivals and finds herself in sixth place in the live race.
Danielle Collins, who has enjoyed an astonishing run since February, is in fourth place. The 30-year-old, who has confirmed that this season will be her last on the WTA Tour, won both the Miami Open and Charleston Open titles.
Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen is in fifth place, with the seventh and eighth places being taken up by Jelena Ostapenko and Jasmine Paolini.