If there has been anyone who has challenged the hegemony of Iga Swiatek, the player who reigns in tennis since Ashleigh Barty retired in March 2022, it has been Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian, winner of two majors (Australian Open 2022 and 2023), is the only one who managed to snatch the throne – between September and November 2023 – during the last two years from the Pole. At the Madrid Masters, the world number two (25 years old, 26 this Sunday) knocked down Swiatek (22) 12 months ago in a formidable final, one of the best in the history of the tournament. “It was my best match, especially on clay. The level was super high. “It’s the best final I’ve ever played in,” acknowledges Sabalenka, who this Saturday (6:30 p.m., Movistar and Teledeporte) defends her crown against Warsaw in Madrid, her favorite clay tournament, where her whips do even more damage due to the altitude. city.
There is no other event on this surface in which the Belarusian has triumphed in this way. It is the only one on clay in which he has won the title (2021 and 2023) and in which he managed to defeat Swiatek, against whom he lost in the other three matches on sand —Rome (2022) and Stuttgart (2022 and 2023) — without even scratching a set. Only Simona Halep has made more finals at the WTA 1000 in Madrid (four) than Sabalenka (three, the same as Petra Kvitova). Today is the second time that the final of the tournament has been repeated consecutively: it had only happened in 2009 and 2010, the only two years in which Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer – also as world number one and two – fought in the last step for the title.
When Barty – winner of three Grand Slams – got tired of tennis while at the top because she felt at only 25 years old that it did not fulfill her life, she pointed to the Pole as her heir, the woman she thought would dominate the circuit during the next years. “I don’t think there is anyone better than Iga Swiatek. She is fantastic, a great tennis player. The way she spreads her energy all over the court is incredible,” said the Australian. The number one in the world – a player with a scorching rhythm from the baseline, very strong legs and a privileged head – has not only picked up the baton, but she already has more majors —four: three Roland Garros and a US Open— that Barty and has the conditions to, perhaps, mark an era in a sport that lost Serena Williams, one of its greatest icons, almost two years ago.
JUANJO MARTIN (EFE)
The Pole has won all the major clay tournaments – she also triumphed twice at the Foro Italico in Rome, the other WTA 1000 on clay – except Madrid, where Sabalenka, if she wins, will become the woman with the most titles in the world this Saturday. history in the Caja Mágica: three, one more than Serena, Halep and Kvitova. After last year’s final, the Belarusian explained that she did specific training with the aim of catching up to Swiatek. “When I’m training hard I always think that I have to keep working and improving to get closer to being number one and put pressure on,” says Sabalenka before a final in which a title is decided, but also something deeper: if the Pole expands its hegemony or the Belarusian, the one that hits the ball the hardest, follows just as closely in the battle to snatch the tennis throne again.
Swiatek and Sabalenka’s path to the final
In her third participation in Madrid, Iga Swiatek has reached the final for the second time. She has done so by defeating Siyu Wang (6-1, 6-4, 1h 18m) in the thirty-second, Sorana Cirstea (6-1, 6-1, 1h 18m) in the sixteenth, Sara Sorribes (6-1, 6- 0, 1h 8m) in the round of 16, Haddad Maia (4-6, 6-0, 6-2, 2h 30m) in the quarterfinals and Madison Keys (6-1, 6-3, 1h 11m) in the semifinals.
Sabalenka, who lost three times in the first round (2018, 2019 and 2022) but won the tournament both times she beat it (2021 and 2023), has reached the final after beating Magda Linette in the thirty-second round (6-4, 3 -6, 6-3, 2h 12m), in the round of 32 against Robin Montgomery (6-1, (5)6-7, 6-4, 2h 32m), in the round of 16 against Danielle Collins (4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2h 25m), in the quarterfinals against Mirra Andreeva (6-1, 6-4, 1h 20m) and in the semifinals against Elena Rybakina (1-6, 7-5, 7-6(5), 2h 19m) .
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