How Aryna Sabalenka got her ‘revenge’ with 'magical' Iga Swiatek win in Madrid - and what it means for French Open

It’s not often that players will ‘pick’ out the opponent they want to face next after winning a match. But Aryna Sabalenka did just that after securing her place in the Madrid Open final. Ad «I want to play Swiatek,» said Sabalenka after her win over Maria Sakkari.

WTA MadridCake-gate and 'unacceptable' lack of speeches: Madrid Open controversy explainedYESTERDAY AT 10:51 «It's always great battles with her, tough matches and I like to be in a battle. And I want to get this revenge.” The revenge was for losing to Iga Swiatek in the final of the Stuttgart Open a fortnight ago. A result after which Sabalenka perhaps gave a glimpse at her mindset as she seemingly half-jokingly pretended to smash the window of Swiatek's new Porsche.

It was bold talk from Sabalenka – and she backed it up. Having lost all three previous clay meetings against Swiatek in two finals and a semi-final, Sabalenka trumped the world No. 1 6-3 3-6 6-3 to win in Madrid for the second time.

How did she do it? The conditions probably played a part. Even though Swiatek didn’t lean on it as an excuse afterwards, the thinner air due to the higher altitude makes Sabalenka’s power game more effective than on other clay courts. Sabalenka stops Swiatek to win Madrid Open title Federer hopeful Nadal will make French Open “Really different, but I really like it,” was how Sabalenka described the conditions ahead of the tournament.

Swiatek has power too, but she couldn’t dictate as much as she has done in previous clay clashes with Sabalenka, all of which had been in straight sets. Sabalenka went for her shots and outhit Swiatek from the baseline, finishing the final with 32 winners compared to 17 from the world No. 1.