World No 1 Iga Swiatek defeats Aryna Sabalenka to retain title in Stuttgart

World No 1 Iga Swiatek cruised past Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4 to win the Stuttgart Open on Sunday in a repeat of last year’s final, to confirm her status as the French Open favourite.

The Pole, back from injury and gearing up for her title defence at Roland Garros, which begins next month, and world No 2 Sabalenka traded powerful baseline blows before Swiatek earned a second breakpoint at 4-3. Swiatek whipped a superb forehand down the line to go 5-3 up before easily holding serve to clinch the first set on her second set point.

Fit again following a rib injury that forced Swiatek to withdraw before the Miami Open and Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, after she hurt herself during her run to the Indian Wells semi-finals last month, she broke her opponent again in the first game of the second set.

Belarus’ Sabalenka started to pile up unforced errors and struggled with her serve at 2-0 before firing a cross-court forehand to hold. However, she could not break Swiatek back and the Pole held serve at 5-4 to seal her second title of the year.

“I want to thank my team because it has been such an intense time. I am so happy we are making the right decisions,” Swiatek said, following her well-timed return from injury. “It is a pretty exciting time. I will be coming back because I love this tournament.”

While Swiatek won it for a second consecutive time, it was Sabalenka’s third straight loss in the final in Stuttgart, having lost in three sets to Ash Barty in 2021 before managing only four games in a quickfire loss to the Pole last year.