Marta Kostyuk Explains Why Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are ‘Much Stronger’ Than Her
Marta Kostyuk has lost a combined seven matches against Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, never claiming a win against them.
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Marta Kostyuk, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Bastien Fachan, Aryna Sabalenka Archive, Iga Archive)
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Marta Kostyuk suggested that the biological structure plays a huge role in women’s tennis, while explaining why she has yet to beat Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek. Kostyuk was last seen in action at the Wuhan Open, where in her first match, she suffered a three-set defeat to Karolina Muchova.
The Ukrainian ace has yet to win a title this year. She, in fact, has not yet played a final this year, last winning a title at the 2023 ATX Open by defeating Varvara Gracheva. Last year, she lost the two finals she played at the San Diego Open and Stuttgart Open. She recently sat for an interview with Tennis365 during which she was asked whether she gets intimidated while locking horns with Sabalenka and Swiatek.
Against Iga, when I have played her, I wasn’t ready to play her at all. I played her over a year ago, and she was very strong. With Aryna, I know it is a tough battle. I have my own skills, but at the end of the day, they are all much bigger than me, much taller than me, much stronger than me.
Kostyuk lost all three matches against the six-time Grand Slam champion, including in the third round of this year’s Cincinnati Open, which Swiatek won by defeating Jasmine Paolini in the final. Against Sabalenka, the World No.27 trails 0-4.
We all have our own biological structure. Some have a higher level of testosterone, some have lower. It’s just natural, and that definitely helps. I feel smaller than them. I try to see how I can beat these players with the tennis skills I have, but I have to work harder to win the points. I have to run a lot more than they do to win points.
Marta Kostyuk added
Kostyuk holds a 26-20 win-loss record this season. The 2024 Australian Open quarterfinalist failed to go beyond the fourth round of a Major this year.
CoCo Vandeweghe on why the year-end No.1 is important for Aryna Sabalenka
Both Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will next be seen in action at the WTA Finals, scheduled to kick off on November 1 in Riyadh. Even if Swiatek ends the year-end championships in her favor, it’s not going to take her to the No.1 ranking, given that the World No.2 is 1,687 points behind the Belarusian, who sits on top with 10,390 points. According to former player CoCo Vandeweghe, the year-end No.1 ranking is very important for the four-time Grand Slam singles champion.
She’s got that locked. I remember going into Cancun two years ago, where she was holding number one in the world, and Iga snatched it from her at the end. And that, to me, I think, has been so important for Aryna Sabalenka, to hold that year-end number one.
CoCo Vandeweghe said on Tennis Channel
Sabalenka lost two Grand Slam finals this year (Australian Open to Madison Keys and the French Open to Coco Gauff). But she learned from her mistakes and played the US Open only to end her campaign by defeating Amanda Anisimova in the final, defending her title and taking home $5 million as prize money.
Sabalenka is yet to take home the year-end championships, losing the final in 2022 to Caroline Garcia. Swiatek won in 2023 by defeating Jessica Pegula. Last year, while Swiatek failed to progress to the semifinals, the 27-year-old suffered a straight-set defeat to Gauff in the semifinals.
Both players were last seen in action at the Wuhan Open. Sabalenka fell in three sets against eventual runner-up Pegula, before losing to Paolini in the quarterfinals.
Also read: Alexander Bublik Demands Change in Schedule from the ATP Tour After Holger Rune’s Devastating Injury
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