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.
Latest Comments
- Kyrgios will do anything to stay in the news.shirley19-12-2024
- A technical error.
MrMustard18-12-2024 - All that is said , all that is done. Nick has 0 grand slams wins. Everything else is hot 🥵 air.MrMustard18-12-2024
- All that is said , all that isMrMustard18-12-2024
- Kyrgios is a jerk.shirley17-12-2024
- If Jessica Pegula had to undergo such horror for using a bannes substance, so do these two tennis players. Penalty should apply to all players regardless of their excuses. They are professionals and know better!!
Stella112-12-2024 - All players should be treated the same for taking banned substances, if your no 1 in the world or no 300 man or woman you should not be allowed to keep playing,,VPH108-12-2024
- Ah, censored again. No one gets to read my comment. LOLjjluvsports08-12-2024
- Reynolds, could you list all the wars started by the U.S. and U.K., or will you run out of paper? Hypocrisy.jjluvsports06-12-2024
- IDK, it looks like to me that Raducanu should praise herself and her team for 'gaming the system' as in playing the points and ranking game. When you look at her season of wild cards, skipping tournaments (including the Paris Olympics!), retiring from losing matches and avoiding qualifying rounds, it seems like there was some plan to move up the ranks without actually playing a lot of tennis. And it worked! Congrats!RealityCheckers04-12-2024