Is Aryna Sabalenka-Iga Swiatek the New Age Friendship Tennis Needed? Stars’ Bonding Breaks the Internet

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have entertained fans with their thrilling encounters in recent years. Not only on the court but also off it, the top two WTA players have recently found a way to charm their supporters.

Sabalenka and Swiatek were practicing together in Riyadh ahead of the year-end WTA Finals. They got together following the session to create a TikTok video. With the phone resting on the surface, both players stood on either side of the court and executed a dance step before Swiatek set foot on it.

Both are standing outside the tennis court in the next scene as Swiatek picked up the phone from the ground. They also went from practice outfits to glammed-up looks on top of it. Their transformed pictures can be seen in the player portraits posted by the WTA Finals Riyadh account.

Additionally, Swiatek shared a story on her Instagram account with the caption, “I’m sorry.” To which Sabalenka replied, “Ahaha no worries, new phone going my way.” This could imply that perhaps Swiatek broke or damaged Sabalenka’s phone, but the Belarusian star doesn’t seem too bothered about it.

Fans would not have expected to see this close bond between two fierce rivals ahead of the final tournament of the year. Although the clip and pictures from that moment became popular immediately on social media, they also sparked an age-old debate about rivalry.

Is a new friendship blossoming between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek?

As the adage goes, rivals in any field, especially in competitive sports like tennis, cannot be friends. Perhaps this is not always the case.

That said, one incident cannot prove that Sabalenka and Swiatek have transformed into the closest friends. However, their close bond in those moments clearly shows that they are not merely bitter rivals.

Over the last few years, the two have regularly fought for supremacy in the tennis world, frequently clashing in the tournament’s final stages. They played three times even this year, and Swiatek won two of them.

They will also be expected to fight it out fiercely in the WTA Finals to finish the year as the World No. 1 since Sabalenka now overtook Swiatek for the top spot in the rankings. With such intense rivalry between them, can they maintain a cordial relationship away from the court as well?

Rivals have occasionally been friends in the past, but sometimes friendships have ended due to rivalry. The most famous one was between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Their rivalry on the court grew as their friendship bloomed off it. The tension between the two grew over time until it was so intense they stopped playing doubles together.

In one recent instance, Srdjan Djokovic claimed that Rafael Nadal was his son Novak Djokovic’s closest friend. He alleged that their friendship broke, though, when the Serb began to win more.

It will be fascinating to see whether the recent lighthearted moments between Swiatek and Sabalenka could mark the beginning of some sort of friendship. If so, can they break the norm and put their on-court rivalries aside to let their friendship flourish off the court? Or will they strictly maintain their relationship with the court? Only time will tell!