Category: Elena Rybakina

Swiatek was aiming for an 11th straight victory in Stuttgart and a third title in a row.

However, Rybakina pressured Swiatek’s serve throughout the match, creating 20 break-point chances and converting four of them.

In the third set, Swiatek saved eight break points in a row before Rybakina took her ninth and went on to improve her head-to-head record against the world No. 1 to 4-2.

“I doubted my serve a little bit in the third set,” admitted Swiatek afterwards.

“I’ll try to not have situations like that but for sure it wasn’t easy to see her winning her service games pretty easily and me struggling basically on every game.

“I think at the end it also made a difference, but I was trying to get better. Maybe I just need more practice or something.

“It was just this kind of day where I served worse. I’ll try to be more consistent.

“She served better, I didn’t serve well in the third set. That’s a shame but at least I know what I can work on and we will focus on that.”

Rybakina has now won four of the last five meetings against Swiatek.

Asked what it is about Rybakina that makes her such a challenging opponent, Swiatek said: “There’s not one specific thing.

“Probably me, Aryna [Sabalenka] and her are the best players on tour honestly and she has struggled with some injuries but every time she is healthy she is playing well.

“There are specific aspects of her game that are hard but I wouldn’t say there is one specific thing. She is a good player, that is all.”

Rybakina is into her fifth final of the season, where she will face unseeded Marta Kostyuk.

Rybakina has already won titles in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi and is the first player to reach five finals in the first four months of the season since Victoria Azarenka in 2012.

Reflecting on how she matches up against Swiatek, she said: “I think it’s just the style of the game.

“Iga, she moves really well and she likes to dominate in the rally, with me, it’s difficult because I play fast, I play flatter, and also like to move the opponent.

“So it’s kind of a match-up where we are both pushing each other, both trying to dominate in the point. So I think of course also my serve helps a lot.

“That’s why some matches I win; some matches I lose. But it’s always tough for her to play against me and for me to play against her.

“It was a very tough match, like always, against Iga. Really happy that I won on clay. It gives confidence, of course.”

Elena Rybakina progressed into the Stuttgart Open final with an epic 6-3 4-6 6-3 semi-final victory over world No.1 Iga Swiatek.

In the latest instalment of the pair’s rivalry at the top of women’s tennis, it was Rybakina who made her way into the final on the indoor clay, where she will play either Marta Kostyuk or Marketa Vondrousova.

“It was, like always, a tough match,” Rybakina said.

“I was fighting for every ball and it was such a close match, and I’m really happy that I managed to win and that I showed a good game.

“It’s always tough to play Iga. We always push each other.”

Swiatek broke Rybakina in the opening game before taking a quickfire hold to seize an early advantage.

However, the world No.1 surrendered her serve twice with Rybakina showcasing her terrific return game by emphatically breaking to love at 2-2.

The Kazakh was left to rue several missed chances to draw first blood though, squandering four set points to give Swiatek a crucial hold to prolong the set at 5-3 down.

Rybakina eventually moved 1-0 ahead on her own serve to wrap up the first set in 49 minutes, but Swiatek’s response was impressive.

The Pole was now showing very few chinks in her service game, while Rybakina also proved to be a tough nut to crack herself in a set which threatened to go the distance.

That resistance was eventually broken in the tenth game with Swiatek levelling up the match on her first set point after breaking the Kazakh to 30.

The decider was just as cagey, as both players claimed a hold of serve each before Swiatek swatted away four break points in an attritional third game to move 2-1 ahead.

It looked like the tide of the match was turning Rybakina’s way with a first break of serve in the decider to move 3-2 ahead.

Swiatek missed the chance for an immediate break back as Rybakina created daylight between the two players at 4-2.

After a further hold of serve for both players, Rybakina then saw the first match point come and go in a tense eighth game on the Pole’s serve, before wrapping it up on the second.