Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
MADRID: Iga Swiatek beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7) in a marathon women's final that lasted three hours and 11 minutes in the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday night.
The top seed gained revenge for her defeat to Sabalenka in last year's final, although she had to defend three match points when trailing 5-6 in the last game of the third set, before triumphing in a nerve-wracking tiebreak.
The first set lasted over an hour in a breezy Caja Magica in Madrid, with Swiatek taking advantage of breaking her rival in the 11th game to serve out for the set.
The serve was less dominant in the second set, with both players scoring service breaks, before Sabalenka took a decisive advantage in the final game after Swiatek double-faulted at 15-30 down.
Sabalenka pressed hard in the third set, but Swiatek was able to dig deep and hold on and she also defended another match point in the tie-break before two errors from her rival allowed her to claim the title.
"It was a great effort today. I didn't know if I was going to win or lose and I was stressed in the first two sets," commented Swiatek.
"Even if I had lost I knew I had fought hard, and I raised my game in the third set. I knew it was going to be a very complicated match," she added.
In the men's doubles final played earlier in the day, Jordan Thompson and Sebastian Korda beat Adan Pavlasek and Ariel Bejar 6-3, 7-6 (7).
Sunday's men's singles sees the unseeded Felix Auger Aliassime face seventh seed Andrey Rublev. ■
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