World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has once again reached the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, marking her fourth appearance in the last five years. She is now determined to finally secure her first ever title in Stuttgart.
Stuttgart: Draws | Scores | Order of play
In a tense semifinal match lasting 1 hour and 35 minutes on Sunday, top seed Sabalenka defeated No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini with scores of 7-5, 6-4. This victory mirrors Sabalenka`s previous win against Paolini in the Miami Open semifinal last month.
`It was an incredibly challenging match,` Sabalenka commented after her hard-fought victory. `Jasmine played fantastic tennis and pushed me to my limit on every point. I truly enjoyed the competition and am thrilled to be back in the final here.`
Sabalenka`s opponent in the final on Monday will be Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia, promising a powerful showdown. Ostapenko smoothly advanced to her second final of the year by defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-4 in the first semifinal of the day.
Sabalenka has a perfect 3-0 record against Ostapenko, including a straight-sets win on clay in Rome last year.
Sabalenka`s Impressive Weekend: Despite only starting her tournament on Saturday night, Sabalenka has impressively won both her matches in under 24 hours without dropping a set. However, No. 6 ranked Paolini provided stiff competition in both sets on Sunday.
Sabalenka`s powerful returns initially gave her a commanding 3-0 lead with two breaks in the semifinal. However, Paolini remained resilient, gradually reducing the deficit and leveling the score at 5-5. Remarkably, Paolini committed zero unforced errors in the entire first set.
Despite Paolini`s clean play, Sabalenka managed to clinch the first set. Another strong return earned Sabalenka a crucial break for 6-5, and the top seed successfully served out the set on her third attempt.
In the second set, Paolini reversed the script, taking a 3-0 lead. Sabalenka then mirrored Paolini`s comeback, breaking back to level at 3-2. She then seized the lead with another break at 5-4, secured with a crosscourt forehand winner.
A final forehand winner down the line sealed the match for Sabalenka. She finished with 30 winners and converted six of her eight break point opportunities.
Sabalenka hopes that her fourth Stuttgart final will be the one where she lifts the trophy. She previously lost to Ashleigh Barty in the 2021 final and to Iga Swiatek in both the 2022 and 2023 finals.
`I want this title more than ever,` Sabalenka stated. `Losing in the final three times makes winning here a major goal.
`It`s become a very important final for me, and I will ensure I bring my best performance tomorrow.`
Ostapenko`s Clay Court Performance: Earlier in the Porsche-Arena, Ostapenko took 1 hour and 29 minutes to defeat Alexandrova, an opponent she has frequently faced.
Prior to Sunday`s semifinal, they had played each other 10 times, with a 5-5 head-to-head record. Alexandrova had also won both of their previous matches on clay.
However, this time Ostapenko was determined to win, reaching her first WTA clay-court singles final in almost eight years. Her last clay final was a significant one – her victory at the 2017 Roland Garros.
Ostapenko`s aggressive play was evident on Sunday, hitting 12 winners in the first set compared to Alexandrova`s six. This continued her strong form, building on her sixth consecutive victory over former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in Saturday`s quarterfinals.
Ostapenko`s powerful shots persisted in the second set, forcing errors from Alexandrova and securing an early break at 2-1. At 4-3, Alexandrova had an opportunity to break back, but Ostapenko responded with well-placed forehands to hold serve and maintain her lead.
Serving for the match at 30-30, Ostapenko hit a perfect ace down the T to reach match point. Alexandrova then netted her return, and Ostapenko celebrated reaching her 18th WTA singles final.
`It was not an easy match,` Ostapenko said afterwards. `She was hitting very powerfully. I believe I played well and managed to win in two sets today.`
