World No.1 player Iga Swiatek was all set to play against World No.4 player Elena Rybakina on April 20 in the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open 2024. It will be the 6th time they play against each other on the WTA Tour. Rybakina has the lead with 3-2 over Swiatek in their head-to-head to date, making it one of the rivalries to watch out for in the future in women’s tennis.
The first time they met was at the 2021 Ostrava Open, where Swiatek won 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. From then on, Rybakina won their next three encounters, the first of which was at the 2023 Australian Open. Rybakina won in straight sets of 6-4, 6-4 in the Round of 16. The same year at the Indian Wells semi-final, Rybakina won again, 6-2, 6-2.
At the 2023 Italian Open in Rome, Rybakina and Swiatek clashed in the quarterfinals. Swiatek won the first set 6-2, whereas Rybakina won the next set 7-6 (7-3). The third set was tied at 2-2 when Swiatek retired hurt. This gave Rybakina a walkover.
The last time they faced each other was at the 2024 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, in Doha. This was the final match, and after three previous losses, Swiatek won the match, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2.
Since the Stuttgart Open 2024 is played on clay, it will be worth looking into both their records on the surface. Swiatek has a terrific record on clay. With an 88% win percentage, Iga Swiatek has a 63-9 win-loss record on clay. Elena Rybakina has a slightly poorer record on clay than Swiatek. Her 70% win percentage with a 42-18 win-loss record is average.
At the Stuttgart Open, more specifically, Rybakina has struggled in the past. She reached the quarter-final in the 2022 edition, whereas faced an early-round exit in the 2023 edition. Her opponent Iga Swiatek, however, has had a terrific outing in the Stuttgart Open in the past. The Polish star won both the 2022 and the 2023 editions and is on the verge of winning her 3rd consecutive title this year.
With Swiatek and Rybakina both at their peaks, this rivalry is set to rule women’s tennis in the years to come and the one to watch out for on any surface and any venue in the world.
Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina Stuttgart Open 2024 semi-final
The Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina semi-final match in Stuttgart is scheduled for Saturday, 8 AM ET. It will air live on the Tennis Channel in the US and Sky Sports in the UK. The weather in Stuttgart, Germany is very cold, with temperatures dropping up to 7 degrees Celsius. The wind speed is 21 km/h, the humidity is 63% and the precipitation is 12%.
With both players doing fairly well on clay, the Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina match should be a good one. But Swiatek holds the edge and the time of writing this report, both the players were locked it at 2-2 in the first set.
