Swiatek to face Sabalenka again in Stuttgart WTA final after Jabeur retires
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Poland's Iga Swiatek (left) and Tunisia's Ons Jabeur hug after the latter retired injured in the WTA Stuttgart Open semi-finals on April 22, 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
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STUTTGART – Women’s tennis world No. 1 Iga Swiatek moved into the Stuttgart Open final on Saturday after her opponent Ons Jabeur retired injured three games into the first set.
The Polish three-time Grand Slam champion will face Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday in a repeat of the 2022 final
Tunisian Jabeur, on a seven-match winning run after recovering from injury and surgery earlier in 2023, looked to have hurt herself during the last point of the first game.
The world No. 4, fresh from her title win in Charleston earlier in April, took a medical timeout but despite playing on with her left calf bandaged for two more games, she decided to stop with Swiatek 3-0 up.
“I really tried but at that point I don’t know what happened,” a tearful Jabeur said. “I was excited to play Iga and seeing that the stadium is full. I am sorry about it.”
Australian Open winner Sabalenka needed just 58 minutes to storm into her third straight Stuttgart final with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Potapova.
Sabalenka, who lost to Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and to Swiatek a year ago, raced to a 4-0 lead, breaking her opponent twice.
World No. 24 Potapova was playing catch-up throughout and was very vulnerable on her weak second serve.
She was equally helpless in the second set, with Sabalenka breaking early again as she won the first eight points.
The world No. 2 then raced back from 30-0 down with a string of big serves at 5-2 to finish off the game and reach her fourth final of the year. Reuters
