Elena Rybakina stormed to her third title of 2024 as she thrashed an emotional Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-2 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Rybakina broke Kostyuk in the first game of the match and hardly put a foot wrong from then on. In the opener, she lost just one point behind her first serve, and never faced a break point. In set two, Rybakina also broke Kostyuk’s serve in the first game, and slammed the door on the only opportunities the 21-year-old had in the match five games later. A six-deuce sixth game proved crucial, in which Rybakina saved all three break points she faced in the match.
Rybakina, who defeated world No. 1 and winner of the past two Stuttgart titles Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, showed no mercy during the 1-hour, 9-minute victory.
“It’s an amazing tournament, and I’m really looking forward to come back next year,” said Rybakina, who also defeated Jasmine Paolini and Veronika Kudermetova in Stuttgart.
Stuttgart is Rybakina’s eighth career title and third on clay, following wins at 2023 Rome and 2019 Bucharest. The 24-year-old leaves Germany with the outright lead in titles this season, adding Stuttgart to a collection that includes Brisbane and Abu Dhabi. The victory over Kostyuk was her tour-leading 26th win of the season.
Speaking after the victory, she said: “Thank you so much. I want to congratulate Marta for a great tournament. You’re playing really amazing. Hopefully we play many more finals.
Seven days after Tsitsipas prevailed in the pair’s championship-match meeting in Monte-Carlo, Ruud delivered a classy all-around display to clinch his first ATP Tour title of the season.
Casper Ruud gained sweet revenge over Stefanos Tsitsipas as he beat the Greek fifth seed 7-5, 6-3 to win the Barcelona Open on Sunday.
Early on it looked like Tsitsipas would continue his mastery over Ruud from the Monte Carlo final, as he broke in the very first game and stretched the lead out to 3-1. But Ruud broke back for 3-all and eventually snuck out another break to close out the set, then opened up a 4-1 lead in the second set and never looked back.
He finished the match with 19 winners to 15 unforced errors, while Tsitsipas had 17 winners to 25 unforced errors on the day.
With his 90-minute final triumph, Ruud snapped Tsitsipas’ 10-match winning streak. The Norwegian began the year well, reaching three finals prior to this week in Barcelona, and Sunday’s victory against Tsitsipas was his Tour-leading 29th match win of the year.
All 10 of Ruud’s previous career titles came at ATP 250s: Buenos Aires in 2020; Geneva, Bastad, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and San Diego in 2021; Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad in 2022; and Estoril in 2023.
He had been to seven previous finals above the ATP 250 level before this one – three Grand Slam finals, an ATP Finals final, two Masters 1000 finals (including Monte Carlo last week) and another ATP 500 final – but had finished runner-up every time.
“Honestly, this has been worth the wait,” Ruud said after capturing the biggest title in his career.
“A lot of finals that I’ve lost have been tough, a bit disappointing, of course,” he said. “Anytime you reach a final, it’s nonetheless a good week, so you can’t be too hard on yourself, but this one has been a long time coming.”
Both players will head to the Masters 1000 event in Madrid now.