World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has once again reached the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final, marking her fourth appearance in the last five years. She is now aiming to secure her first ever title in Stuttgart.
Top-seeded Sabalenka overcame No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini in a tense semifinal match, winning 7-5, 6-4. The 1-hour and 35-minute encounter saw Sabalenka repeat her victory over Paolini from the Miami Open.
`It was a very challenging match,` Sabalenka commented after her victory. `Jasmine played incredibly well and made me fight for every point. I truly enjoyed the battle and am thrilled to be in the final again here.`
Sabalenka is set to face Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the final. Ostapenko advanced to her second final of the year by defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-4 in the first semifinal of the day.
Sabalenka has a perfect 3-0 record against Ostapenko, including a straight-sets win on clay in Rome last year.
Sabalenka`s Impressive Weekend: Despite having her first match only on Saturday night, Sabalenka has managed to win two matches in under 24 hours without dropping a set. However, both sets against Paolini were closely contested.
Sabalenka started strong in the semifinal, gaining a 3-0 lead with two breaks, but Paolini fought back to level the score at 5-5, remarkably making no unforced errors in the first set.
Nevertheless, Sabalenka managed to secure the first set. A powerful return gave her another break for 6-5, and she eventually served out the set on her third attempt.
In the second set, Paolini took an early 3-0 lead, but Sabalenka quickly responded. The World No. 1 broke back to level at 3-2 and then took the lead at 5-4 with a forehand winner.
A final forehand winner secured the match for Sabalenka, who tallied 30 winners and converted six of eight break points.
Sabalenka hopes to finally win the Stuttgart final, having lost in 2021 to Ashleigh Barty and in 2022 and 2023 to Iga Swiatek.
`I want this title more than ever,` Sabalenka stated. `Losing three finals here makes it a significant goal. It’s a very important final for me, and I will give my best effort tomorrow.`
Ostapenko`s Strong Clay Performance: Earlier in the day, Ostapenko defeated Alexandrova in 1 hour and 29 minutes. This was their 11th encounter, with the head-to-head record tied at 5-5 before this match. Alexandrova had won their previous two clay-court matches.
However, Ostapenko was determined to win this time, reaching her first WTA clay-court singles final in almost eight years, since her 2017 Roland Garros victory.
Ostapenko hit 12 winners in the first set, double Alexandrova’s count, continuing her strong form after defeating Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
Ostapenko`s powerful play continued in the second set, forcing errors from Alexandrova and securing an early break at 2-1. At 4-3, Alexandrova had a chance to break back, but Ostapenko held firm.
Serving for the match at 30-30, Ostapenko served an ace to set up match point. Alexandrova then netted her return, sending Ostapenko to her 18th WTA singles final.
`It was not an easy match,` Ostapenko said afterwards. `Alexandrova was hitting powerfully. I believe I played well and managed to win in two sets today.`
