Iga Swiatek won the women’s singles title in the Madrid Open 2024 after beating Aryna Sabalenka in a humdinger of a final on Saturday. After over 3 years, Swiatek won the match 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) at Manolo Santana. The Pole also avenged her defeat to Sabalenka last year when she lost in another 3-setter.
The 25-year-old Sabalenka had the chance to equal Petra Kvitova’s tally of 3 Madrid Open titles, but Swiatek did not let that happen. Swiatek also extended her lead to 7-3 against Sabalenka on the WTA level. It also happened to be Swiatek’s 20th title in the WTA.
The opening set turned out to be an absolute thriller as both players earned a break apiece to make it 5-5. But then, Swiatek broke Sabalenka’s serve to take the opening set. Sabalenka had a decent first serve, but a winning percentage of only 30.8 from her second serves let her down.
The excitement did not go down even in the second set. Sabalenka went 3-1 up with a break of serve after which Swiatek stormed back into the match. This time around, the Belarusian star held her nerve to take the match into the deciding third set.
Swiatek with the last laugh
In the decider, both players were just not willing to throw in the towel. Swiatek and Sabalenka converted a break point apiece to make it 5-5. In the next game, Sabalenka fetched herself 2 championship points, but Swiatek saved both of them and took the contest into a tie-breaker.
It was also the first tie-breaker between them in 10 meetings. This time, Swiatek had a championship point at 6-5, but Sabalenka did not give up the ghost. Sabalenka failed to convert a third championship point as the match kept the audience at the edge of their seats.
But at 8-7, Swiatek converted her second championship point as the curtains came down on the cliffhanger in Madrid.
