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Copyright © 2024 CGTN. 京ICP备20000184号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan denied Polish world No.1 Iga Swiatek's chance to achieve a hat trick at the WTA Stuttgart Open on Saturday, bringing their head-to-head record to 4-2 after a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win.
The fourth seed has taken five wins from Top 1 players, four of which against Swiatek, who said in a post-match interview that she considered herself, Rybakina, and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka as the best players on tour.
Elena Rybakina gestures to spectators after reaching the WTA Stuttgart Open final in Stuttgart, Germany, April 20, 2024. /CFP
"She had struggles with some injury, but every time she's healthy she is playing well," Swiatek said of the 2022 Wimbledon champion after the loss.
Swiatek broke first in the opening game and managed to hold serve, before Rybakina bounced back to take the set, winning five games in a row. The four-time Grand Slam winner then broke first to take the second and force a decider, only to be broken twice again and see her 10-match winning streak end.
"It was, like always a very tough match and I was fighting for every ball, it was such a close match," Rybakina said.
"I'm really happy that I managed to win and I showed a good game," she added, as she set up the final with unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk who reduced a 5-1 deficit in the opening set and downed another Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova from last year 7-6, 6-2.
Rybakina and Swiatek went into the semifinal level on their winning record of this year with 24. As Rybakina emerged victorious to lead the WTA Tour, she is one step away to also lead in the number of titles having already won in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi, while Swiatek has two from Qatar and Indian Wells.