Sabalenka into second consecutive Stuttgart final

STUTTGART (Germany): Aryna Sabalenka reached the final of the Stuttgart WTA tournament for the second year running with a straight sets win over Paula Badosa on Saturday. Sabalenka came out on top of a hard-fought battle for the first set of the semi-final, then turned up the pressure in the second to seal a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory.

"It was a tough match and she is the toughest opponent," said Sabalenka. "I tried to just stay in the first set and get the break back," she added, referring to the opening set which was eventually settled by a tie breaker.

"I am super happy with the result." Sabalenka responded to having her service broken at the start of the second set by returning the compliment. Badosa then faded as the set progressed, serving a double fault to hand Sabalenka victory on her first match point.

Having lost to Ashleigh Barty, who retired last month, in last year's final in Stuttgart, Sabalenka will face either Iga Swiatek or Liudmila Samsonova, who meet in the other semi-final. Badosa has the consolation that she will move up to second in the world rankings on Monday.