'Super proud' Swiatek defeats Sabalenka in epic Madrid Open final with tie-break decider

Iga Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 4-6 7-6(7) in a thrilling Madrid Open final on Saturday evening.

The match was a highly-anticipated contest between the two top-ranked players in women’s tennis.

Sabalenka and Swiatek have swapped positions, with No. 1 Swiatek asserting herself towards the end of last year to go back on top, but the Belarusian won the first and only Grand Slam of the year so far in Australia to lay down a marker.

With the Qatar Open and Indian Wells titles to her name, Swiatek has also enjoyed success of her own, and after losing to Sabalenka here in last year’s final, there were plenty of motivations on Saturday afternoon in Spain.

“This was one of the craziest finals I’ve played in my life. I never one such a tight match at the end of a tournament,” Swiatek said after the match.

“It makes me super proud I was able to stick to what I wanted to do. I didn’t lose my focus and I think in the third set I was playing the best tennis, so it was pretty crazy. I needed to fight over the stress, and I was tight in the beginning.”

The early stages of the first set went with service, but Swiatek found herself under pressure, facing a break point before saving the point and staying level at 3-3.

However it was the Polish player who broke, with a fierce backhand forcing an error and moving her ahead to serve for the first set, claiming it 7-5 and moving a set from victory.

The pendulum swung the other way early in the second set for Sabalenka as she held her opening service game and then broke to go 2-0 and threaten an immediate response.

However, Swiatek gathered herself and took her opponent to deuce before breaking back, only for Sabalenka to do the same and then once more, Swiatek broke to level at 3-3, but it was the world No. 2 who took the second set, with her power proving too much to resist.

Swiatek continued to struggle in the third set as she was broken and fell 3-1 behind with Sabalenka closing in on a potentially significant win ahead of the upcoming clay Grand Slam in Paris at Roland-Garros, however the 22-year-old broke to cut the deficit in half, and the two fought all the way to a decisive tie-break after Swiatek battled through a gruelling final service game of her own to make it 6-6.

The tie-break itself was a microcosm of the match itself as the pair battled to 7-7, before Swiatek finally finished the task at hand by landing two consecutive points to win the final after seeing off three championship points, and suggest that the French Open could set the scene for this rivalry once more.