"There's no Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Iga Swiatek era yet" - Tennis analyst

Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina occupy the top three spots in not just the WTA world rankings, but also the race leaderboard for the season.

That is hardly surprising given the sort of results the trio has put out in the first half of 2023. Such has been the hype around them that the tennis world is abuzz with a 'Big 3' idea for women's tennis.

Not all, however, are completely convinced about that. In his latest appearance for the Monday Match Analysis podcast, tennis observer Gill Gross said it was too early to dub Sabalenka, Swiatek, and Rybakina as the 'Big 3'.

The 'Big 3' was a sobriquet that was earlier reserved for the men's trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Gross is of the opinion that it would be worth waiting to see if the three women can continue competing for the big titles for another two to three years before calling them the 'Big 3'.

"It is definitely worth waiting until they show that they can continue to compete for Majors for a span of two to three years before I think there's gonna be any long-term cementing or labeling of these three women as even ushering in their own like era," Gill Gross said.

"Like there's no Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Iga Swiatek era yet, it's just in 2023, that's the best, that's that's a good way to look at it," he added.

Conceding that the trio were the best at this point, Gross said they have brought a sense of predictability to the women's game that has been missing of late. He, however, was quick to reiterate the point that the three have been atop the women's game for a very brief period.

"I mean, they are by far the best three players, I do think that. The good thing is that it's been fairly predictable, just looking at their weapons and what they bring on the table as tennis players," Gross said.

"I think that it was again pretty easy to see Aryna Sabalenka wasn't going anywhere," he continued. "Elena Rybakina going anywhere, Iga Swiatek wasn't going, you know, maintaining her stature. They're all young, they're all under 25. But yeah, it is a very short period of time that they have been at the top."

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"One or two could fall off" - Gill Gross on Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina's 'Big 3' buzz

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open.

Gross went on to say that Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Sabalenka may have separated themselves from the rest of the field for now, but have a fair way to go to be compared to the original 'Big 3'.

"Nothing like that 'Big 3'. If you are trying to get the point across that the three players have separated themselves completely from the rest of the pack and that is why you were calling them 'Big three', that's fine."

The tennis observer added that he was holding back on riding the hype train, due to the possibility that some members join the club or one or two drop out of it.

"Okay, for this reason, I am holding back on riding the hype train for now," he said. "As there could very well be new members joining this lead group or one or two members that could fall off. I think it would be good to wait until at least the start of next year to see how Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina deal with the pressure of defending points."

Aryna Sabalenka leads the 2023 WTA Race rankings with 6,455 points, followed by Iga Swiatek who has 5,715 points to her name. Elena Rybakina stands in third position with 4,891 points.