For the second event in a row, Iga Swiatek battled Aryna Sabalenka in a WTA 1000 final, and much like in Madrid, the Polish player won again, this time at the 2024 Italian Open in Rome.
The final in Madrid was a spectacular match that went the distance and saw the Belarusian not use three match points. She also put together a solid week of tennis in Rome but admitted before the final that she dealt with some injury problems.
The top seed, on the other hand, had no such problems as she continued her tremendous run in Rome with convincing wins. She was the favorite in this match because it was played on a court that favored her more than the one in Madrid.
That certainly proved true on the tennis courts because Sabalenka was really no match for her. There is a good chance her injury impacted her level as well, but for the most part, it was just Swiatek being the more comfortable player on such a court.
The opening set was a pretty easy 6-2 win for the world no. 1 which was impressive because Swiatek served very badly. Despite seeing a lot of second serves, the second seed wasn't able to assert herself with the power she had, and that was a problem.
Ideally, she would have hoped to be more competitive than that in the first set, but she didn't even create a single break point. She did create plenty of them in the second set because she opted to play even more aggressively with more power, and it worked.
Despite creating so many chances, Sabalenka failed to break, which was a major issue because her level eventually faded. It happened midway through the second set, and Swiatek broke immediately, ultimately sealing her match.
It was an unfortunate ending for Sabalenka, but Swiatek is again proving that she's the number one favorite heading into Roland Garros. The final score of the final match was 6-2, 6-3 for the Polish player.
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