Italian Open 2024: Iga Swiatek is now three-time champ

In a repeat of the Madrid Open finale, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka met yet again on Centre Court, and the result was the same yet again. Swiatek won, but this time around, she did not break a sweat, and finished it off in style with a straight sets victory, furthering her win streak without losing a set in an hour and a half. Swiatek won 6-2 6-3 to take home her third Italian Open. This is her ninth win in a final since 2023 French Open and her 4thWTA singles title in 2024.

The match, though, was not entirely one-sides, even though the score implies as much. In the second set, Sabalenka stepped up her game, and had multiple chances to break Swiatek, but the latter staved them all off. In a quick social media post after her win, Swiatek said that she was really happy and satisfied with winning two back-to-back titles, which is not easy. “See you next year in Rome,” she signed off. Swiatek is now the first player since Serena Williams in 2013 to win a Madrid-Rome double.

Runner-up Sabalenka also promised to return to the Italian Open next year and come back stronger. “Hopefully, I’m going to get this beautiful trophy,” she said. Prior to the Italian Open, Swiatek and Sabalenka had played each other 10 times, with the former leading 7-3 in the head-to-head encounter stakes. She’s made it 8-3 now. Interestingly, five of their title clashes have been on clay, with Sabalenka defeating Swiatek only once. The rest of their encounters were at earlier stages.

With the WTA final done and dusted, it’s now time to turn attention to the Men’s Singles, where two-time finalist Alexander Zverev will take on Nicolas Jarry, who is playing his first ATP Masters 1000 final. The German is the hot favourite to win the tournament a second time.