(Tennis news) World Number 1 Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 23 matches after defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-2 in the finals. The 2020 French Open champion defeated Emma Raducanu in the quarter finals and overcame Ludmilla Samsonova from a set down in the semi finals on Saturday.
The 20 year old Polish international showed little signs of fatigue as she saved an early break point and got a 3-0 lead while third seeded Sabalenka had a double fault. Despite the 23 year old Belarusian player attempting a comeback after getting a hold of the serve at the start of the second set, Swiatek managed to go 4-2 ahead and secured her win when Sabalenka’s effort went long.
The result means that Swiatek is the first player to get 30 match wins this season, with an impressive overall record of 30-3. By winning the Stuttgart Open, she will take home a Porsche as well as the prize money of the tournament as well as get a monumental 2,000 points lead in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic lost to Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the final of the Serbia Open. The 34 year old fought back from a set down but couldn’t mount a comeback as Rublev ended up winning the match 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 in two hours and 29 minutes. It was the Russian’s first win over Djokovic who broke the World Number 1’s serve twice in the opening set and saved five set points to force a tie-break in the second. Rublev then saved two break points in the opening game of the third set and proceeded to break Djokovic’s serve three times to win the game.
Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz defeated compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-2 in the final of the Barcelona Open to secure his third title of the season. The result meant that the 18 year old is the youngest player to break into the top 10 in the World Rankings since Rafael Nadal 17 years ago. Speaking after the match, Alcaraz said “It means a lot. I've watched this tournament since I was a kid. I always wished to play in and of course to be able to win this tournament."
Also read: Russian and Belarusian players banned from participating at Wimbledon
