World No. 1 Iga Swiatek edged out Aryna Sabalenka in an absolutely epic Madrid Open final to complete her list of winning all major clay tournament as the 22-year-old Pole now has at least one French Open, Madrid and Rome title.
On Saturday evening, Swiatek and Sabalenka delivered a brutal battle – which the top-seeded Pole won 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7) after saving three match points.
In what was the first meeting of the year between Swiatek and Sabalenka, the two top-ranked players needed three hours and 11 minutes of play to complete the match.
Going into the Madrid final, Swiatek was playing for her first Madrid title, while Sabalenka was the defending champion and she aiming for her third title at Caja Magica.
How Swiatek beat Sabalenka in the Madrid final?
In the opening two games, Swiatek and Sabalenka traded breaks. But after blowing an early break, Swiatek broke Sabalenka again in the critical moments of the first set to open a 6-5 lead before serving out for the opener in the following game.
Between the second and fifth games of the second set, Sabalenka was twice up by a break but Swiatek twice recovered. After breaks of serve in four consecutive games, the next four games went without any breaks. But…
