Swiatek and Sabalenka face each other in the best final

Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, and Aryna Sabalenka, two and champion in 2021, meet this Saturday (6:30 p.m., TDP) in the best possible final of the Mutua Madrid Open, second in the history of the tournament played by the two best in the ranking. In 2013, Serena Williams, then the leader, became champion by beating Maria Sharapova, second.

It so happens that two weeks ago, Swiatek and Sabalenka fought for the title in Stuttgart. The Pole won and the Belarusian had “desire for revenge”. “You always have to fight very, very hard against Iga. I’m ready”. Williams and Sharapova also met that year in another final, that of Roland Garros. That, two finals between the two best, has only happened three times. The other was in 1984, when Martina Navratilova (1) and Chris Evert (2) played for Amelia Island and Paris.

Yesterday, Sabalenka turned 25 and did not like that the cake that the organization gave her was significantly smaller than Carlos Alcaraz’s. This was implied on Twitter, with the support of several colleagues on the circuit, such as her compatriot Azarenka and the Canadian Andreescu.

Pros and cons

The face to face is dominated by 5-2 Swiatek, who links nine victories on clay and warns: “Every match is different and difficult, especially against Aryna. I have to have concentration and discipline.”. She is right, because Sabalenka is the woman who has won the most games (25) against the top-10 since 2018, one more than her rival this Saturday (24). The height of Madrid (658 meters) favors the serve and punch game of the tennis player from Minsk, that may be the big difference compared to Stuttgart (245). Also that Swiatek has been somewhat more vulnerable during this course, with tough defeats against Elena Rybakina, in the semifinals of the Australian Open, and Barbora Krejcikova, in the final in Dubai.