Iga Swiatek-Aryna Sabalenka close in on Steffi Graf-Arantxa Vicario’s record with Italian Open 2024 final meeting
Flawless is the apt adjective to describe the Italian Open 2024 final clash between the World No. #1 and No. #2 players. Iga Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title for the third time.
The Pole took 1 hour and 29 minutes to beat Sabalenka for the eighth win in 11 meetings. Swiatek has lifted the Italian Open trophy in three of the last four years. The top seed also took the WTA 1000 title in 2021 and 2022, with the latest win giving the Pole her 21st WTA singles title.
The 2024 Internazionali BNL d’Italia finals were fifth on clay between Sabalenka and Swiatek. Only Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, with 10 meetings in clay court finals since 1990, have played each other more times. The final match-up in the 2024 Italian Open was also the first at the venue between World No. #1 and World No. #2 since establishing the WTA rankings in 1975.
Swiatek is now on a nine-win streak in singles finals. The last time the Pole lost in a title clash was to Sabalenka in Madrid last year. That occasion was also the only win by the Belarusian in their five meetings across finals, all coming on clay.
Apart from Rome, Swiatek is a three-time champion at Roland Garros (2020, 2022 and 2023) and Doha (2022, 2023 and 2024).
Swiatek’s win over Sabalenka a fortnight ago at the Madrid Open made her the third player to win Rome and Madrid in the same year. Dinara Safina took the double in 2009, and Serena Williams did the same in 2013.
In the flurry of records by Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka claimed one of her own. She became the player with the most winners in WTA 1000 tournaments this season after Saturday’s final, with 571 and surpassing Elena Rybakina’s 570.
Swiatek is only the second woman in WTA history to win three or more Internazionali BNL d’Italia titles before the age of 23 in the Open Era. Gabriela Sabatini picked up four Rome titles before turning 22.
