ROME — Iga Swiatek swept to victory at the
Italian Open on Sunday, beating Ons Jabeur 6–2, 6–2 to retain the title and claim her
fifth tournament crown in a row.
اضافة اعلان
World number one Swiatek dropped to her knees in tears of joy
after winning her 28th match in a row, and is red-hot favorite for Roland
Garros which starts later this month.
“I’m going to celebrate with a lot of tiramisu!” Swiatek joked on
court before adding “see you at the
French Open”.
The 20-year-old Pole has dropped just one set in her last 20
matches and made light work of Jabeur, ranked seven in the world, in a largely
one-sided final in Rome.
Jabeur had come into her first Rome final on a roasting
Foro Italico center court on the back of two thrilling comeback wins over Daria
Kasatkina and Maria Sakkari.
Tunisia’s Jabeur had made history last week after becoming the
first Arab or African woman to win a WTA 1000 title but could not extend a
career-best 11-match winning streak against her relentless opponent.
“We’ve had a great run on clay ... we will learn from this match
and we will continue forward,” said Jabeur.
Swiatek came out all guns blazing and after winning the first three
games came close to taking the fourth, failing to capitalize on two break
points before Jabeur eventually got a score on the board.
After her heroics in the quarter and semi finals fans on the court
were hoping for another fightback but by the time she started to show signs of
life she was already too far behind.
Down in the second set Jabeur shanked a poor shot wide at
breakpoint in game two, and Swiatek then claimed the next two to move into an
unassailable lead.
Jabeur then fired up the crowd by winning the next two and another
unlikely comeback bid looked to be on when she had three break points in game
seven.
However
Swiatek took the game to deuce and saved another
breakpoint in a superb rally before taking the game, breaking Jabeur’s resolve
and then moving on to take the title.
Later on Sunday
Novak Djokovic faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the
men’s final, a rematch of their final at last year’s French Open which was a
five-set thriller eventually won by the Serb.
Djokovic
has already ensured he will be world number one for a record-extending 370th
week and claimed his 1,000th career victory, against Casper Ruud, on Saturday
night to reach the final.
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