Superb Swiatek wins sensational Madrid Open final against Sabalenka
The world No 1 and top seed came through an incredible battle with Aryna Sabalenka to lift her maiden Madrid Open title
Iga Swiatek lifts the 2024 Madrid Open trophy © Bernat Armangue/AP/SIPA
Three hours and 11 minutes of utterly captivating drama ended with Iga Swiatek ousting defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7) to win her maiden Madrid Open title in front of an enthralled crowd inside the Caja Magica.
With it, the world No 1 and top seed has clinched her 20th career title, nine of which have now been won at the WTA 1000 level.
Swiatek saved three championship points en route to taking the title off the world No 2 in a thrilling contest.
Sabalenka was bidding to become only the second woman to overturn a one-set deficit in the final of the Madrid Open after Maria Sharapova achieved the feat against Simona Halep in 2014. But she fell agonisingly short at the very last hurdle as rival Swiatek got over the line with the finest margins of victory.
It was a match more than worthy of the showpiece, as the pair played out their longest encounter in a rivalry that is rapidly becoming full of them. Last year’s final in Madrid was a similarly dramatic affair, with Sabalenka edging Swiatek in that one. But 2024’s edition has eclipsed that match, and it goes down as one of the WTA matches of the season so far.
Sabalenka elected to serve first, having won the coin toss, but a tight opening service game handed Swiatek an early advantage, as she broke the Belarusian’s serve at the first time of asking.
The world No 1 was broken straight back by Sabalenka before the match settled into a more conventional rhythm on serve.
Sabalenka could not capitalise on three break point opportunities in the sixth game as the Pole impressively retrieved the situation to hold. It was then the Belarusian’s turn to save break points in the very next game, fending off a double-break point opportunity with her trademark ferocious hitting to maintain parity in a pulsating seventh game.
On an unseasonably chilly day in the Spanish capital, these two games lifted the temperature inside the Caja Magica considerably as it became evident there would be very little to separate the top two players in the world.
Indeed, it remained close until the end of the opening stanza, with Swiatek striking the decisive blow in the eleventh game, breaking Sabalenka for the second time before serving out an engrossing first set in just over an hour.
second set heats up as sabalenka strikes back
Sabalenka was never going to relinquish her title easily, however. The world No 2 came out swinging at the start of the second, winning the first seven points of the set en route to breaking Swiatek for a 2-0 lead.
But just as Sabalenka had some momentum, Swiatek simply upped her own intensity, breaking her opponent straight back in the third game to restore parity. The pair traded another two breaks each as Swiatek refused to let Sabalenka gain a leading foothold in the set.
After that early flurry of breaks, the rest of the set went of serve before Sabalenka pounced again in the tenth and final game, flattening a breathtaking forehand down the line to break the Pole and send the match into a deserved decider.
The third set was a tense and tight affair, with momentum swinging from one player to another with each game that passed.
Sabalenka took the first initiative, breaking in the fourth game, before the world No 1 struck back yet again to keep the final in the balance.
The rest of the deciding set was a case of who blinks first, with each player taking turns to step up to the baseline to serve with increasingly higher stakes and greater pressure.
Yet they both remained remarkably unshakeable, even when Swiatek was twice a championship point down on her serve in the eleventh game.
The Pole saved both with extraordinary composure, the second courtesy of a beautiful whipped cross-court forehand winner.
Fittingly, and perhaps inevitably, the final headed into a third-set deciding tiebreak.
The breaker was, predictably, just as close as the entire match had been up to that point. Neither player could pull more than a point away from the other before being dragged back to parity in a microcosm of the final itself.
Swiatek earned her first championship point at 6-5, before big serving from Sabalenka handed the Belarusian her third championship point at 7-6.
It was the four-time Grand Slam champion whose resolve held firmest, however, winning the next two points to seal an epic win over the defending champion.
cruellest of losses for sabalenka as swiatek completes sweep of major clay-court titles
It is a cruel but fundamental truth of tennis that there can only be one winner. There are no draws, no replays and someone has to finish the match on the losing side of the net.
For a moment, however, it looked as though there really was nothing to separate the two. This will be a crushing loss for Sabalenka, who did very little wrong and played spell-binding tennis throughout.
“Congrats on another great tournament,” the Belarusian said, addressing her opponent in her runners-up speech.
“You did an incredible job. Hopefully next year it goes to me. Three hours. That’s a long one. Hopefully we recover fast for the next tournament.”
Swiatek was similarly gracious to the world No 2, paying tribute to Sabalenka for turning her into a better player.
“Aryna, here’s to many more finals. It’s always a challenge playing you. Thanks for motivating me and forcing me to be a better player,” Swiatek said in her winner’s speech, before turning to her box.
“I want to thank my team. I’ve had pretty nice speeches before so I don’t know what else to say to make it feel special. But I think what you saw on court was pretty special anyway.
“Thank you for sticking with me through the ups and downs. For understanding and motivating me, because without you I wouldn’t be here
“I hope we’re going to continue progressing. That’s the most important thing at the end. I also want to thank my family who are watching.”
swiatek remains queen of clay, but rybakina and sabalenka are closing the gap
Sabalenka, along with Elena Rybakina, has become more than a worthy rival to Swiatek over the past year-and-a-half. After dominating 2022 in the manner that she did, the world No 1 has had to raise the bar repeatedly to stay one step ahead of her two closest rivals.
Today, she displayed just how and why she remains at the top of this ever-strengthening ‘Big Three’ of women’s tennis.
But the distance between herself and her two challengers has narrowed markedly over the past 18 months, and continues to do so.
In full flight on the clay courts of Europe, Swiatek is simply majestic – her victory in Madrid underlines that, regardless of the conditions, she is the undisputed queen of clay.
But with the grass-court stretch around the corner, and both Sabalenka and Rybakina showing they can match her even on the Pole’s favoured surface, the rest of this season and beyond should be a truly fascinating prospect.
For now, though, the moment belongs – yet again – to the world No 1. She’s toppled the defending champion in thrilling style to clinch the only major clay-court event she’d yet to win.
She won’s nine of her 11 Masters 1000 finals and will be a heavy favourite for a fourth Roland-Garros title next month.
Swiatek’s career has rapidly evolved into something extraordinary, and it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
Unless, that is, Aryna and Elena have something more to say about it.
