Iga Swiatek explains the difference between playing against Jelena Ostapenko and Aryna Sabalenka after losing at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

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Iga Swiatek has very different experiences of playing Jelena Ostapenko and Aryna Sabalenka.

Swiatek was beaten by Ostapenko at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, continuing the surprising one-sided rivalry between the pair.

There were many fluctuations during the match, with Swiatek admitting she made mistakes against Ostapenko in the third set in particular.

Ostapenko continues to be a headache for Swiatek, while she has a much more positive head-to-head against world number one Sabalenka.

Iga Swiatek explains the difference between playing Aryna Sabalenka and Jelena Ostapenko

Both Ostapenko and Sabalenka are known for their powerful games, but Swiatek was asked about the differences between the two players in her post-match press conference.

Despite Swiatek struggling much more against Ostapenko, she claimed that the Latvian can be a lot more inconsistent than the ‘more logical’ Sabalenka.

“I mean, there are many differences,” said Swiatek. “Aryna plays a little bit more logical and she spins the ball, so it’s not like she smashes out of control. Jelena plays much more risky and with less spin, so, yeah, there are many differences.”

This is supported by Ostapenko’s 2025 season so far, where she has won only 10 of her 19 matches.

However, in their Stuttgart quarter-final match, Ostapenko was more hit than miss with 10 winners compared to nine unforced errors.

Whereas, Swiatek hit only three winners compared to 12 unforced errors and after the match admitted that Ostapenko was hitting the ball well.

“Well, I think today was a tight match, so for sure I had my chances to win,” said Swiatek. “Before, like, for sure, like, these matches were different. Like, she went for it and she was smashing every ball kind of perfectly. Today she didn’t, she made some mistakes. I had my chances. I just didn’t use them.”

Iga Swiatek head-to-head vs Aryna Sabalenka and Jelena Ostapenko

This was the sixth victory for Ostapenko over Swiatek, who is still unbeaten against the five-time major winner after now playing on every surface.

However, Swiatek actually has a significant advantage over Sabalenka, having won 67% of their 12 meetings.

Their head-to-head is even more one-sided on clay, with Swiatek winning five of their six meetings on the surface.

This includes two finals at the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, but this will not be happening again in 2025 after Swiatek’s exit from the tournament.

However, Sabalenka remains in the tournament after reaching the semi-finals of the Stuttgart tournament once again.

Both Ostapenko and Sabalenka will look to reach the Stuttgart final later today, when they play Ekaterina Alexandrova and Jasmine Paolini, respectively.