"Mean girl behavior, no need to tag Iga Swiatek" "Clearly a compliment" - Fans divided over Ana Ivanovic lauding Elena Rybakina for Stuttgart triumph

Tennis fans on the internet are divided over Ana Ivanovic's move to tag Iga Swiatek in her congratulatory post for Elena Rybakina after the Kazakhstani's Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2024 triumph.

Rybakina thumped Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 in the final that lasted for only an hour and 11 minutes. It was the Kazakhstani's first title on clay this season and third overall.

She started her Stuttgart campaign with a win over Veronika Kudermetova and then defeated Jasmine Paolini. She crossed the toughest hurdle when she defeated the first seed and two-time defending champion Iga Swiaek in the semifinals.

Rybakina's effort earned praise from former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:

"Congratulations @lenarybakina Strong performance throughout the tournament! After defeating @iga_swiatek in the semis it was another great match! Heads up, @marta_kostyuk"

Ivanovic's decision to highlight Rybakina's win over Swiatek rubbed a few tennis fans on X the wrong way.

"Lolol, mean girl behavior, no need to tag Iga," a fan wrote.

One fan, however, justified the Iga Swiatek mention underlining that she was the heavyweight in the tournament.

"Wtf was wrong with the tag? People do this all the time? it's clearly a compliment? She was THE person to beat and Elena did that," the fan wrote.

Here are a few more reactions from X:

"Very weird to way to congratulate someone on winning a tournament by tagging the player who they beat, and it wasn't even in the final," a fan wrote.

"Don't tag Iga in such disrespectful posts," a fan stated.

"Why not? She defeated the most dominant clay courter by far in the last 3, 4 years," a fan commented.

"Why are y’all mad about the tag… Iga isn’t chronically online like we are so she probably won’t see it and even if she does so what," a fan remarked.

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Iga Swiatek now trails Elena Rybakina 2-4 in terms of the head-to-head

Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek shake hands.

Iga Swiatek's head-to-head disadvantage against Elena Rybakina doubled with the loss to Kazakhstani in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2024.

Swiatek entered the semifinals trailing Rybakina 3-2 in head-to-head and the latter earned a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win to extend her lead to 4-2. The Pole committed seven double faults and failed to convert 11 out of the 13 break points created in the match.

Iga Swiatek's aces column remained empty for the entire meeting whereas Rybakina raked up eight aces. It was notably the duo's second meeting in the 2024 season with the first one being the Qatar Open final, which went the World No. 1's way.

The two first met in the quarterfinals of the Ostrava Open 2021, where Iga Swiatek clinched a win. In their following three meetings, Rybakina remained invincible.