Drama in the WTA final in Madrid: things look bad for world number one Iga Świątek in the third set. But then she strikes back
The tennis world number one Iga Świątek has won the WTA tournament in Madrid for the first time. The Polish player prevailed in a dramatic final against the defending champion Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, who was seeded second, 7:5, 4:6, 7:6 (9:7). It was the third title this year for Swiatek (22) after Doha and Indian Wells. She fended off three match points in the third set.
At the start of the clay season, the three-time French Open winner was somewhat surprisingly eliminated in the semi-finals in Stuttgart. In Madrid, she was once again in commanding form and only lost one set to Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final. In the final, Świątek took revenge for last year’s defeat, but had to put in more than three hours of hard work to do so
Favorite for Paris
At the Grand Slam highlight in Paris (from May 26), Świątek is the player to beat. She has already triumphed at Roland Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Against Sabalenka (25), she celebrated her seventh victory in their tenth duel. She collected almost a million euros in prize money for winning the tournament. In the rankings, she extended her comfortable lead over Sabalenka and the other women in pursuit.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime will face each other in the men’s final on Sunday (18:30/Sky). One German also still has a chance of winning a title in Madrid: Laura Siegemund (Metzingen) will play alongside the Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the doubles final against the Spaniards Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo on Sunday (3.30 p.m.).