Iga Swiatek gave Aryna Sabalenka no chance in the final

The logic of the world ranking was respected, as was that of the Madrid tournament. Iga Swiatek left no chance to her runner-up, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, in the final of the WTA tournament in Rome, Saturday May 18. The Pole completed the match in two sets (6-2, 6-3) and 1h29 of play. The three-time winner of Roland-Garros won the 21st tournament of her career. The two players have faced each other 11 times on tour, with Swiatek winning eight in total.

Very quickly, the Pole established her authority over the match by twice taking the service of Sabalenka, who had almost withdrawn from the tournament due to a back injury. The 26-year-old never really found the fault, as evidenced by the number of unconverted break points: seven. Enough to increase her tension throughout the match. Especially at the start of the second set, when she had two opportunities to take Swiatek’s serve without succeeding.

After breaking at 3-3 in the second set, the world number one flew away, inflicting a shutout on her opponent, resigned, who completely dropped out of the match. True to her game, the Pole showed her great solidity on serve, with 74% of first serves converted.

“It was a slightly different match to the one in Madrid, because I managed to put her under more pressure throughout the match”, analyzed the Pole. “Against Iga, there are never easy points, it’s always difficult to finish the points. She’s not world number 1 for nothing, she’s really strong in all aspects of her game“Sabalenka admitted. “She never gave me a chance to install my game”she added.

Iga Swiatek becomes the first player since Serena Williams in 2013 to win the Madrid and Rome tournaments in the same year. A good omen two weeks before Roland-Garros.