Iga Swiatek may pull off a Novak Djokovic in the future and hire one of her biggest rivals as her coach as the Polish tennis star hints she’d be interested in working with Aryna Sabalenka one day.
During the offseason, one of the biggest news was the record 24-time Grand Slam champion adding Andy Murray to his team.
And if not for an unfortunate muscle injury, the Serb and the Briton could have easily started their partnership with an Australian Open triumph.
Over the last couple of days, Reem Abulleil has been asking WTA stars in Dubai if they would one day work with a rival.
Swiatek, who beat Dayana Yastremska 7-5 6-0 in the Dubai quarterfinal on Wednesday, mentioned retired Andrea Petkovic beofre also dropping Sabalenka’s name.
“Petkovic is not playing anymore but I heard she has a really great eye and I always liked her and I think we would get along,” the 23-year-old said.
“I don’t know… Maybe Aryna. She is older than me so she is going to finish earlier…”
I’ve been asking players who from their rivals they’d choose to be their coach down the road.
Here’s what @iga_swiatek had to say. Stay tuned for the full video!@DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/CYU2tbvPUh
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 19, 2025
Swiatek, Sabalenka are not only rivals anymore
It wasn’t a secret that there wasn’t much of a relationship between the two top-ranked players in the past.
But over the last couple of months, they have practiced together several times and even filmed a viral TikTok during the offseason.
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek© Aryna Sabalenka/Instagram – Fair Use
When addressing that viral video two months ago, Sabalenka said the relationship between them became “more chill” and spoke very highly of Swiatek.
I was doing fitness after our hit. She was like, ‘I can join you guys,’” the 26-year-old Belarusian explained in late 2024.
“I am like, ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’
“We filmed it and posted it. It’s been becoming more chill between us, too. I have to say she’s really nice person. It was fun get to know each other.”
Tennis World USA