Nearly three years ago, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina faced off in the final of the first major of the season. At the time, many thought this was the start of a new era in women’s tennis, a kind of “Big Three” consisting of a trio of the most supreme ball-strikers in the game, the aforementioned pair and the then world No 1, Iga Swiatek.
It wasn’t quite to be: Sabalenka fought back from a set down to win her first grand slam title and has since won another three to wrestle top spot off Swiatek. Rybakina, after the high of her 2022 Wimbledon final, slid around the top 10, briefly dropped out of it, and never quite challenged at the same level again.
