{"id":326581,"date":"2025-10-23T13:37:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/326581\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:37:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:37:12","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-and-iga-swiateks-testosterone-levels-make-them-better-claims-marta-kostyuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/326581\/","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek\u2019s \u2018testosterone levels\u2019 make them better, claims Marta Kostyuk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n

World No 27 Marta Kostyuk<\/a> has claimed Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> and Iga Swiatek<\/a>\u2019s \u201chigher testosterone levels\u201d make them better players. <\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Ukrainian offered the explanation that the size of Sabalenka and Swiatek\u2019s bodies is a factor in what separates them from her in the rankings. <\/p>\n

In a recent interview with Tennis365<\/a> in Wuhan, Kostyuk said: \u201cAgainst Iga, when I have played her, I wasn\u2019t ready to play her at all. I played her over a year ago and she was very strong. With Aryna, I know it is a tough battle. I have my own skills, but at the end of the day, they are all much bigger than me, much taller than me, much stronger than me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Kostyuk<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Kostyuk has lost all four matches she has played against the World No 1 Sabalenka (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

When asked if she felt \u201cintimidated\u201d by players like Sabalenka and Swiatek, Kostyuk replied: \u201cWe all have our own biological structure. Some have a higher level of testosterone, some have lower. It\u2019s just natural and that definitely helps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel smaller than them. I try to see how I can beat these players with the tennis skills I have, but I have to work harder to win the points. I have to run a lot more than them to win points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot make myself ten kilograms bigger or five centimetres taller, so I have to use everything I have at 100 per cent. For other players, they have more of an advantage in other things. This is just the way I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at the photos when we shake hands at the net and I look so much smaller than some of my opponents. It\u2019s just part of the sport and a very cool challenge for me to take on these players. There are many, many things I can do to be better, but they have an advantage on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kostyuk is listed as 5ft 9in on the WTA\u2019s website – the same height as World No 2 Swiatek and just two inches shorter than the the World No 1 Sabalenka, who is 5ft 11in. World No 3 Coco Gauff is also 5ft 9in, while the World No 6 Jasmine Paolini has reached grand slam finals at Wimbledon and Roland Garros at 5ft 4in. <\/p>\n

\"Kostyuk<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Kostyuk is listed at the same height as Swiatek (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian has lost all four matches she has played against Sabalenka – including two close matches at the Madrid Open and Italian Open this season – and all three she has played against Swiatek, with their latest meeting coming in Cincinnati in August 2024. <\/p>\n

Kostyuk acknowledged that mental strength also plays a part and admitted that she does not find it \u201cso easy\u201d to play without doubt. She added: \u201cTheir confidence is just different. I have played some close matches against Aryna and you see how she plays the break points. She just doesn\u2019t care. She has no doubt that she will save them. She hits a big serve and hits the forehand. No doubt. She is No 1 in the world, she has played a lot of finals and she has that confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":326582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[62,1464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-326581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115423756450239954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}