Iga Swiatek continued her emphatic run on the Tour with a comprehensive win over Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
The 20-year-old Pole was in clinical form as she strolled to a 6-2, 6-2, victory in just 84 minutes on what was her debut appearance at the WTA 500 event. Swiatek faced just two break points in the match during the opening set and saved both of them. Impressively, she won 78% of her first service points and broke Sabalenka four times. It is her fifth win over a top 10 player this season against just one loss. That was to Ash Barty who has recently retired from the sport.
“First of all, Aryna, it’s always super tough playing against you,” Swiatek said during the trophy presentation. “I was a tough match. I mean, we fought for every game, so hopefully there are many more to come.”
Swiatek’s run to the Stuttgart title saw her drop just one set in four matches played. That was against Russia’s Ludmilla Samsonova in the semi-finals on Saturday. Until then, she had won 26 sets in a row. Earlier in the tournament she also scored wins over reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu and Germany’s Eva Lys.
Although it is her dominant win over world No.4 Sabalenka which is perhaps the most impressive. The triumph followed their encounter earlier this year in Doha which Swiatek also won with an almost identical score (6-2, 6-3). Her only defeat to Sabalenka on the Tour was last year at the WTA Finals in Mexico.
“I wanted to thank my team for sure. (The) last few days have been tough, especially after yesterday’s match. So, thank you very much for keeping me alive because yeah, it wasn’t easy.” Swiatek continued.
“Half of my team is back home but they needed some time off from me. They were available for, like, any call that I wanted to have. So thank you for staying with me even though you’re in another country.” She added.
Swiatek is now on a 23-match winning streak which equals that of Naomi Osaka who reached the milestone at the 2021 Miami Open. She has also become the first WTA player to reach 30 wins in 2022. To put that into perspective, Swiatek won 36 matches during the entire 2021 season. Since 2000, only four female players have achieved a longer winning streak – Justin Henin, Victoria Azarenka, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
Stuttgart is the fourth tournament in a row Swiatek has won after Doha, Miami and Indian Wells. Her career title tally now stands at seven with her only loss in a WTA final occurring back in 2019 at the Lugano Open in Switzerland.
