"Danielle Collins & Elena Rybakina are tougher than anyone on Iga Swiatek's draw" - Fans debate Aryna Sabalenka & the Pole's road to Madrid Open final

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will meet at the Madrid Open when the two face each other in the summit clash on Saturday, May 4.

Swiatek, the top seed, has continued her red-hot form on the clay of Caja Magica. She displayed her amazing court coverage and composure while making light work of dispatching World No. 52 Wang Xiyu, World No. 30 Sorana Cirstea, and World No. 55 Sara Sorribes Tormo. In the quarterfinals, the Pole dropped her first set at the tournament against World No. 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia.

She did well to recover from the deficit and ousted the Brazilian in three sets. Swiatek's semifinal match against World No. 20 Madison Keys was another straightforward win. The World No. 1 dropped only 30 games en route to the final.

On the other hand, Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion and the No. 2 seed, needed three sets to defeat World No. 48 Magda Linette, World No. 183 Robin Montgomery, and World No. 15 Danielle Collins. This was followed by a convincing win over World No. 43 Mirra Andreeva.

Sabalenka faced World No. 4 Elena Rybakina and needed another three sets to better the Kazakh. The Belarusian dropped 60 games to reach the final, twice as many as Swiatek.

A graphic of both women's road to the final recently went viral on social media and triggered a debate over who had a more challenging route. A fan stated that Iga Swiatek faced a tougher opponent of the two, with the average ranking of her Madrid Open rivals being 34 in comparison to Aryna Sabalenka's 58. Many disagreed with this assessment.

"Iga's oppenents average ranking #34 Aryna's opponents average ranking #58 Yet some people say Iga had an easy draw...," a fan wrote.

"Collins and Rybakina are tougher opponents than anyone on Iga's draw," commented another fan.

Fans argued that Montgomery's ranking increased Sabalenka's average. Others opined that the Belarusian battled with far fiercer opponents like Collins, who was on a 15-match winning streak, and Rybakina, winner of three WTA 500 titles in 2024.

"Only cos of Montegomery first round lol. Player for player Sabalenka had a tougher draw," a fan tweeted.

Another fan posted, "the average is kinda irrelevant cuz robin’s ranking obviously drags aryna’s average way down."

"Collins just won 2 titles in a row, Ryba coming from Stuttgart win, Linette was just in a final of 250 a week ago. What have Iga’s opponents done? I am a big Iga fan, but let’s be honest.. This time Saba had it much harder," wrote another fan.

Some fans pointed out that the Pole, in comparison, faced the likes of Sorribes Tormo and Keys, who were not on a good run before Madrid.

"Comparing 34 and 58 in WTA like those numbers actually mean anything in terms of quality difference," a fan commented.

"Aryna had to face two of the most in form players of the year and not Sorribes and Keys," stated a fan.

"Iga played Madison Keys in the semis please be for real," a fan wrote on X.

Aryna Sabalenka aims to become first woman to defend Madrid Open title since 2017

Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka is hoping to better Iga Swiatek in their second Madrid Open final in a row and become the first woman to defend this WTA 1000 title since Simona Halep in 2017. The Belarusian won her maiden title in Madrid in 2021, defeating Ashleigh Barty in the final.

Her title defense in 2022 ended in the first round as she suffered an upset at the hands of Amanda Anisimova. In 2023, she again recaptured her mojo in Madrid and bettered Swiatek to win her second title in the Spanish capital.

If Aryna Sabalenka is successful in her title defense this year, she will also become the second woman after Petra Kvitova to win three Madrid Open titles. Kvitova emerged victorious in the tournament in 2011, 2015, and 2018.