World No. 1 Iga Swiatek changed surfaces this week but her dominance continued as she destroyed Aryna Sabalenka to win Stuttgart.
Swiatek, seeded at No. 1, gave no chance to third-seeded Sabalenka in the Stuttgart final as she saw off the Belarusian 6-2 6-2 to win her fourth consecutive title.
After winning Doha, Indian Wells and Miami, Swiatek kicked off her clay season in Stuttgart and lost only one set en route to winning the title.
“I worked hard this week to adjust properly and to play my best tennis on this surface,” Swiatek told WTA Insider. “I’m pretty proud of myself and pretty proud of my team because basically after yesterday’s match, it wasn’t easy to reset physically and mentally and be ready for today.”
Swiaek’s transition from hard to clay was smooth
After winning Stuttgart, Swiatek suggested she wasn’t at her best this week but still managed to win the title.
After a first round bye, Swiatek defeated qualifier Eva Lys in her opener at the tournament.
Swiatek also claimed a straight-set win over 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, before she needed three sets against Liudmila Samsonova.
Samsonova ended Swiatek’s run of 14 consecutive straight-set wins but that was all as the Pole recovered from a set down to win their semifinal match.
“Well, that’s kind of another tournament where I surprised myself (laughs) that I can do it and basically that I don’t need to be 100 percent perfectly prepared or I don’t need to feel like 100 percent to still play really good tennis and play solid matches,” Swiatek explained.
“The transition was pretty quick and I had a lot of doubts but again I just didn’t want to really focus on that and I just focused on what I had influence on. So, yeah, that’s another tournament that has shown me that I can do it no matter what.”