- World No 2 Sabalenka bests No 1 Swiatek in final 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- Victory is Belarusian’s first on clay against Pole
Aryna Sabalenka produced a statement victory in tennis’s blossoming heavyweight rivalry, maintaining her composure to secure her first clay-court win against Iga Swiatek and triumph at the Madrid Open for the second time.
After three intense, quality sets, Sabalenka, the No 2, edged out the No 1 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. As the Belarusian denied her rival the only big clay-court title missing on her résumé, their head-to-head narrowed to 5-3 in Swiatek’s favour.
It is the latest victory in a breakout year for the 25-year-old. Sabalenka has now won three titles, including her maiden grand slam tournament at the Australian Open. She has also reached the final in five of her seven tournaments so far, compiling a supreme 29-4 (88%) record, and has five WTA 1000 titles and 13 overall.
“I definitely respect her a lot. She’s a great player, and what she did last season and what she’s kept doing, it’s really motivated me a lot to improve, to keep working hard, to keep fighting. Yeah, I know that it’s always battles against her. It’s always really great matches,” said Sabalenka.
“To have this win, especially on clay, that’s something unbelievable. I’m really happy that I’m able to fight against her and I’m able to get these wins so it’s not like so super boring for people to watch our matches.”
A day before the pair travelled to Madrid, Swiatek edged out Sabalenka in the final of the Stuttgart Open. This meeting marked the first time in 23 years that the top two players have faced each other in consecutive finals.
Source: theguardian.com