Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Elena Rybakina beats Stuttgart lover Swiatek and is in the final!
Elena Rybakina has reached the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for the first time. She beat two-time winner Iga Swiatek 6:3, 4:6 and 6:3.
by Florian Goosmann from Stuttgart
last edit: Apr 20, 2024, 05:07 pm
Elena Rybakina has achieved the almost impossible and beat four-time major winner Iga Swiatek at the WTA tournament in Stuttgart. Swiatek had won a total of ten matches in the Porsche Arena in 2022 and 2023. It was her first ever defeat at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Swiatek got off to a better start, took Rybakina's serve with fantastic long returns and took a 2-0 lead - she generally had wonderful length in her shots. But then her accuracy slipped a little, while Rybakina - seemingly the epitome of calm - remained stable and did not let herself be pushed away. The result: 4-2 and soon the set win for the 2022 Wimbledon champion.
She continued to have problems with her length in the second set, repeatedly hitting half a meter behind the baseline and having to fend off two break points for Rybakina right at the start. Afterwards, however, she felt closer to the break, but did not use four opportunities. Both players held their serve, but in the end the Pole managed to equalize the set with her fifth break chance of the set - to the delight of the many Polish fans in the Porsche Arena, who supported their favorite with posters and chants.
Rybakina began the deciding set stronger, having a total of nine break chances in Swiatek's first three service games - the world number one fended off eight of them, some of them spectacularly. Nevertheless, Rybakina finally managed to break to make it 3:2. In the next two service games she had to fend off two more break chances, but did so with nerves of steel with a stop and a second serve on the line. Rybakina managed a break in the end to win.
Rybakina will face Vondrousova or Kostyuk in the final
"My serve helped me in tight situations," said an overjoyed Rybakina. "We both like to dominate the points. It all came down to who could take the initiative first."
The second semi-final will be contested by Marketa Vondrousova and Marta Kostyuk. Wimbledon champion Vondrousova had somewhat surprisingly eliminated three-time Stuttgart finalist Aryna Sabalenka from the tournament on Friday; Kostyuk had defeated US Open champion Coco Gauff in a dramatic match .
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