2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina racked up a third WTA title of the season, less than 24 hours after outlasting world no. 1 Iga Swiatek to extend her impressive deciding set record, swatting aside a wasteful Marta Kostyuk display to seal the Stuttgart spoils as the race to Roland Garros continues.
Rybakina refuses to let Kostyuk settle, reaps rewards
Rybakina [4] bt. Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2
FROM the first few points of this year’s Stuttgart final, you could sense there was only going to be one winner. Clean hitting and purposeful play meant this proved a far nervy affair for coach Stefano Vukov to watch than Saturday’s entertaining encounter.
Elena Rybakina, buoyed by a thrilling three-set semifinal win over the two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek the day prior, used depth and expert point construction to demoralise Marta Kostyuk – as well as some brilliant first serves.
Statistic: Rybakina’s win over Swiatek means she has now won 11 consecutive deciding set matches, the best across the women’s tour since four-time Major champion Naomi Osaka (12) did so between 2019-20.
If Saturday’s gameplan was about keeping the world number one under the kosh, reducing the Pole’s chances to force her out wide during rallies and making her feel compelled to overcook returns when things weren’t going as expected, Sunday merely proved a continuation of that. There would be no deciding set here.
Profiting from a nervy start down the other end, Kostyuk’s best moments in this straight-sets affair came when she was behind.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough chances to build from there, barring a courageous first hold after ten minutes. The first pressure point came at 3-2, 30-30, where she approached the net and was swiftly passed by a clever forehand winner.
Kostyuk has the firepower to match most and wasn’t short of some excellent shot-making at times during baseline exchanges, but again, it felt like she was fighting the tide with an assertive avalanche hurtling towards her as Rybakina banked free points aplenty behind that booming serve to keep the Ukrainian under duress.
A double-fault on break point, having been 30-0 up to start set two, spoke volumes.
Rybakina moved well, responded astutely when Kostyuk tried switching things up with drop shots or loopy forehands in their longer rallies, while being aggressive at the net upon occasion – something she isn’t totally comfortable with. If ever there was an opportunity to try things, leading during a WTA 500 final isn’t bad timing.
Kostyuk had a golden chance to get her nose in-front, midway through set two, as the world no. 4 experienced a forgettable five-minute spell with shanked returns and a few poorly-executed points on serve. Yet she saved a trio of break points behind some timely big serves and held firm to further confound the 21-year-old’s afternoon.
Another double-fault – her sixth – came at 30-apiece in the next service game and while Rybakina needed four championship points to do so, gladly watched a loopy Kostyuk error fly long to prove a worthy winner after 70 minutes.
What’s next?
There’s no time to rest and savour the moment for either player, as they head straight for Madrid with the season’s fifth WTA 1000 event kicking off tomorrow.
Winners so far this term
Qatar, Indian Wells: Iga Swiatek
Dubai: Jasmine Paolini
Miami: Danielle Collins
Fortunately as far as recovery goes, qualifying begins tomorrow and both are seeded so will receive byes into the second-round. That said, they may meet again as soon as next weekend with opening victories, featuring in the same section:
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via TV broadcast
Mo and Sports 