Tennis: in Madrid, Swiatek takes his hard-fought revenge on Sabalenka | TV5MONDE

At the end of the match, a revenge: World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was crowned in Madrid by defeating World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) on Saturday, a year after losing to her in the final on Spanish clay.

Swiatek emerged after a fierce head-to-head of 3 hours and 11 minutes, not without denying three match points in favor of Sabalenka: two firsts in 6 games to 5 on her serve, and another in the deciding game, 7 points against 6. The three-time winner of Roland-Garros – who will put the crown back on the line in three weeks – won on his second occasion, after a first achieved by 6 points to 5, and s ‘falls completely.

“Who’s going to say now that women’s tennis is boring?” she said into the stadium microphone, after winning the longest final on the WTA circuit in 2024.

“It’s the most intense and craziest final I’ve played,” Swiatek said. “When you come out of games like that, it makes it even better.”

“Thank you for motivating me and pushing me to be a better player,” she told Today’s Rival.

“I really want to see many more finals against her More wins than defeats,” replied Sabalenka mischievously. “I really hope that we will be able to maintain this level and even raise it season after season.”

Full of confidence

A year ago in “Caja magica” in Madrid, the Belarusian double winner of the Australian Open won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final.

With this hard-won win, Swiatek is obviously full of confidence as Roland-Garros approaches.

On the throne of world tennis for the 101st week, she captured her third trophy of the year, all in the WTA 1000, the most prestigious tournaments behind the Grand Slams, after Doha and Indian Wells. At the age of 22, this is the twentieth title of his still young career.

It also completes the collection of trophies from the most important European tournaments on clay, the core surface, after Stuttgart (2022 and 2023), Rome (2021 and 2022), and of course Roland-Garros (2020, 2022 and 2023).

In a highly competitive match whose level rose particularly high in the second and third sets, the two best players in the world took part in quite a showdown, between one – Sabalenka – trying to impose her power, and the other – Swiatek – taking everything . the risk of return of serve and ready to do everything in defense to regain control of almost desperate points, despite admitted tension and an arm that took time to free itself.

Back to back after nearly two hours of play, the world No. 1 and No. 2 were only decided at the end, in the tie-break of the deciding round.

“Difficult pass”

Prior to that, Sabalenka had a break in advance in the third set (3-1), then earned match point first, at 6 games to 5. But she made a mistake in the first and Swiatek denied the second with an authoritative forehand winner.

Despite the defeat, “there are a lot of positives to take from this tournament”, maintains the Belarusian, who will celebrate his 26th birthday on Sunday.

Sabalenka had not won more than two matches in a row since his second successive crown in Melbourne in January, a period that was overshadowed in March by the death of his ex-partner in Miami, who fell from a hotel balcony.

“I had some difficulties in the months after the Australian Open. I am very proud to have managed to get out of this difficult patch and to be able to fight again and show my best tennis”, appreciated the world No. 2, five of Madrid’s six head-to-head matches spanned three sets.

Apart from a three-set quarter-final that lasted two and a half hours (against Haddad Maia), Swiatek went through the Spanish fortnight at a marked pace: she abandoned only twenty matches en route to the final.

Now she has emerged victorious from the last seven finals she has played. His latest defeat? Only in Madrid a year ago.

Before Roland-Garros, Swiatek and Sabalenka are expected in Rome next week.