“Iga Swiatek is a great player. It’s not easy to play against her, obviously. We had so many difficult battles. I don’t know. It seems to me that we played so many times, I mean, I know the tactics and everything I have to do in court. It was a very hard-fought match in Stuttgart.”
On the eve of her match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the defending champion Elena Rybakina talked about many topics, including the rivalry with WTA No.1 Iga Swiatek, praising the Polish champion. Rybakina also spoke at the press conference, expressing her feelings in view of the start of her Roman adventure.
“I’m really happy to be back. It’s great to be here. I’ve seen some improvements on site. I can’t wait to participate in this event,” she told.
Rome is a rather special tournament for Elena. The Kazakh tennis player returns to the Italian capital as a champion, after last year’s victory over the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, who was forced to retire due to an injury at 6-4 1-0 for her opponent.
Rybakina also expressed her point of view on the new format of the WTA 1000, which has been extended to two weeks.
“I would say they are long because it’s a bit boring to stay – as if it becomes routine – too long…
