Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka have established themselves as two of the brightest stars in women’s tennis! Their rivalry has gotten tougher with every year. This year, they faced each other three times, and both these players didn’t fail to impress their fans in those meetings with their spectacular brand of tennis. We’ve seen some spectacular matches this season in the women’s Tour and guess what? In most of those matches, there was a bang. But which was the best match of the year though?

Well, recently the WTA announced that the match between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the 2024 Madrid Open was the ‘Match of The Year‘. It was their first meeting in the 2024 season and Iga Swiatek won her first Madrid Open title, saving three championship points to defeat the reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka 7-5,4-6,7-6(7). It lasted for almost 3 hours and 11 minutes and at that time it was announced as the season’s longest Hologic WTA Tour Final. In that intense match, Aryna Sabalenka pushed the Pole to her limits, but ultimately Swiatek clinched her first title in Madrid. What did Iga Swiatek say when she came to know that this epic final was named the ‘Match of The Year‘ by the WTA?

Well, Iga Swiatek recently shared a post on her IG stories that announced her match with Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open final was voted as the ‘Match of the Year‘ by the fans. Swiatek captioned that post with, “Yasssss. That was epic.🔥” What was Swiatek’s reaction after that epic final, though? We saw Iga Swiatek couldn’t contain her emotions after winning the title in Madrid and she was heard saying, “Who is going to say that women’s tennis is boring now? Congrats as well to Aryna because we both had an amazing effort today.“

Iga Swiatek currently has an 8-4 lead in their H2H record. This epic final in Madrid marked the third clay court showdown between Swiatek and Sabalenka. Iga Swiatek was even heard saying, “I think we both kind of deserved to win today. I think it was only about these little points in the tiebreaker.” Over the years, both these tennis stars have portrayed pure respect and admiration for each other and it was quite exciting for the fans to see this show put up by these superstars of women’s tennis. 

Talking about respecting each other, during the on-court interview in Madrid after the finals, Iga Swiatek said, “Aryna.. to many more finals.. it’s always a challenge playing you. Thanks for motivating me and forcing me to be a better player.” However, she’s not the only one to highlight how they have pushed each other to become two of the best in women’s tennis.

Previously, Aryna Sabalenka also revealed, “I think that’s amazing the rivalry we are having with Iga. She definitely motivates me a lot to get better, and I think I improve so many things just because of her.“ We’ve seen quite a few exciting matches between these two in the last 12 months. Who is most likely to get the better of the other in 2025?

Former world number one issues a grim verdict on Iga Swiatek’s 2025 season

Just a few weeks ago, we saw Dinara Safina heaping praise on Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka for their incredible season. For those who are unaware, Iga Swiatek won 5 titles this season including one Grand Slam triumph (French Open). On the other hand, Aryna Sabalenka won 4 titles this season and two out of them were major titles (AO and the US Open).

So, talking about their incredible runs this season, Safina said, “In my time, there were more stable players. There were Serena and Venus Williams, Davenport, Mauresmo, Henin, Sharapova, Clijsters and so on…Now there is Gauff, Pegula, but they are all unstable. Only Sabalenka and Swiatek played the whole season almost without slumps.”

However, just a few days ago, Safina made yet another interesting verdict for the 2025 season. During an interview with the Russian daily, ‘Championat‘, she picked her winner for every major tournament in the 2025 season. She said, “Australia — Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka. Roland Garros — Alexander Zverev and let’s say Karolina Muchova. I think Iga Świątek will not win the Grand Slam on clay next season. Wimbledon — Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina. US Open — Danil Medvedev and Sabalenka again.“

Interestingly, Safina isn’t the only one to highlight the threats that Iga Swiatek may face in the 2025 season. Previously, we saw Martina Navratilova heaping praise on Aryna Sabalenka by saying, “The sky is her limit. She will be the favorite at next year’s Wimbledon, she also knows how to play on the floor. She (Sabalenka) is a threat on every court.” Who do you think in between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will have a better season in 2025?