Iga Swiatek wins 4th straight title of the year in Stuttgart

 

World No.1 Iga Swiatek just keeps on winning. The Polish star won her fourth consecutive title and her 23rd straight match with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final on Sunday.


Swiatek made her Stuttgart tournament debut a triumphant one by completing her week with a commanding 84-minute victory over the fourth-ranked Sabalenka. Swiatek collected her seventh career Hologic WTA Tour singles title.

Iga yet to be stopped: Swiatek’s winning streak began with a title run at WTA 1000 Doha, and she remained undefeated at WTA 1000 events this year by sweeping through the Sunshine Double of Indian Wells and Miami.

Two additional wins for her Polish squad at Billie Jean King Cup qualifying gave Swiatek a 19-match winning streak coming into the indoor clay of WTA 500 Stuttgart.

Liudmila Samsonova pushed Swiatek to the limit in Saturday’s semifinals, snapping the top seed’s run of 28 straight sets won in the process. But Swiatek pulled through that match in three hours to set up a meeting against Sabalenka, where the No.1 once again swept through a final.

After the match, Swiatek said joining the other players in the list of longest win streaks since 2000 is "pretty surreal, honestly. A few years ago I wouldn’t even think about being in this kind of group.

"For sure right now I need to work harder to keep this streak, but I’m just going to take it match by match, and I’m super proud of myself and really satisfied. These are the kind of players who were role models when I was growing up."

Aside from losing her first final to Polona Hercog as a 17-year-old in 2019, Swiatek has been dominant in finals. She has won seven finals in a row since then without dropping a set and has lost no more than five games total in each of those championship matches.

Swiatek is now the first player to win 30 matches this season and improved her 2022 record to 30-3. After dropping her first meeting with Sabalenka at last year's Akron WTA Finals, Swiatek has won their following two clashes in straight sets.

"I worked hard this week to adjust properly and to play my best tennis on this surface," Swiatek said. "I’m pretty proud of myself and pretty proud of my team because basically after yesterday’s match, it wasn’t easy to reset physically and mentally and be ready for today."

Tale of the final: Swiatek had to save a break point in the opening game with a rally crosscourt backhand, but she methodically moved through the set from there, surviving a patch of brilliant Sabalenka backhands as the Pole picked off big points in a handful of tight games. An untimely double fault by Sabalenka on set point ceded the opener to Swiatek.

The 2021 Stuttgart runner-up Sabalenka toughed out a service hold from break point down at 1-1 in the second set, deploying multiple forehand winners down the line. But Swiatek found perfect placement on her shots down the stretch, grabbing the last four games to finish off the final and grasp her latest trophy.

All told, Swiatek’s 17 winners outpaced Sabalenka’s 13, and the top seed won 77 percent of her first-service points. She was never broken on the day.

wtatennis.com

What can I say at this point honestly. 

Just beyond amazing, how Iga is able to keep doing this. Especially after such a long physical match the night prior. 

I was a bit disappointed with Sabalenka's performance I expected it to be more of a contest given she has actually been playing well in this tournament.. 

But  at the same time I'm not surprised by it she has always been very hot and cold. When her serve is working she's hard to stop, when it's not her whole game falls apart. 

She doesn't have a plan B beyond the serve and that's always been the issue. 

Iga on the other hand has learned to problem solve when her serve isn't working. And her mental resolve this year has just been on another level. 

The way she can focus and play point by point is the mark of  so many great champions. And makes her very difficult to beat. 

Samsonova nearly managed it. But I think winning that one just give Iga even more confidence she's doing the right things. 

I will add I was not at all impressed with Sabalanka's attitude and speech at the trophy ceremony. Came off sounding very petty and immature. 

Obviously she very badly wanted to win the car given how much she's been talking about it. 

Totally get it.  

But the words she chose and her whole demeaner came off very disingenuous and just rubbed me the wrong way. 

But back to Iga, let's see so this make it 4 title in a row, career title #7, a 23 match win streak and a win loss record of 30-3 matches for the year. Insane levels of good.  

Playing like a true world #1.

It's a good thing Iga finally got that drivers license this year so she can enjoy that amazing ride. 

The word Jazda is going to have a whole new meaning for her when she's driving around in that Porsche. 

Congratulations Iga you continue to awe and amaze the sport of tennis and it's so fun to watch you do it. 

Get some well deserved rest, and see you in Madrid!