World No. 1 Iga Swiatek edged out Aryna Sabalenka in an absolutely epic Madrid Open final to complete her list of winning all major clay tournament as the 22-year-old Pole now has at least one French Open, Madrid and Rome title.
On Saturday evening, Swiatek and Sabalenka delivered a brutal battle – which the top-seeded Pole won 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7) after saving three match points.
In what was the first meeting of the year between Swiatek and Sabalenka, the two top-ranked players needed three hours and 11 minutes of play to complete the match.
Iga Swiatek© Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Going into the Madrid final, Swiatek was playing for her first Madrid title, while Sabalenka was the defending champion and she aiming for her third title at Caja Magica.
How Swiatek beat Sabalenka in the Madrid final?
In the opening two games, Swiatek and Sabalenka traded breaks. But after blowing an early break, Swiatek broke Sabalenka again in the critical moments of the first set to open a 6-5 lead before serving out for the opener in the following game.
Between the second and fifth games of the second set, Sabalenka was twice up by a break but Swiatek twice recovered. After breaks of serve in four consecutive games, the next four games went without any breaks. But then in the 10th game – with Sabalenka leading 5-4 and Swiatek serving to stay in the second set – the second-seeded Belarusian managed to break the Pole and send the match into a decider.
After winning the second set, Sabalenka also broke Swiatek for a 3-1 third-set lead but got broken back instantly in the following game. Leading 6-5 in the third set, Sabalenka had two match points on Swiatek’s serve but the Pole managed to save those opportunities and force a tie-break.
In the third-set tie-break, Swiatek missed a match point at 6-5 but Sabalenka also didn’t convert her third match point at 7-6. A few points later, Swiatek earned her second match point at 8-7 and realized to complete her three-set win over Sabalenka and win her third title of the year.
Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka© Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
Swiatek will now turn her focus to Rome, where she will try to win her third title.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login