World number one Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the Stuttgart Open semi-finals on Saturday while two-time champion Iga Swiatek lost to Jelena Ostapenko for the sixth time in as many meetings.
Sabalenka reached the last eight without striking a ball following a bye and walkover, and took time to find her rhythm against Elise Mertens before wrapping up a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Mertens broke for a 4-3 lead in the opening set but Sabalenka hit back right away and reeled off nine of the final 10 games to power into a semi-final showdown with Jasmine Paolini.
“Finally I played my match,” Sabalenka said. “Never happened before that I play the first match on Saturday… Happy with the variety of the game I brought today on the court. Yeah, I think it was very decent game.”
“I had a week to practice on these courts, so I felt pretty comfortable,” she added.
There was a strange incident in the first set when Sabalenka took a photograph of a disputed ball mark after disagreeing with an “out” call on her shot when she was break point down. Sabalenka received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from the chair umpire but quickly regrouped to take control of the match, putting the distraction to one side.
“When I gave her a handshake, there was a very interesting look and a very strong handshake. Never had it before,” Sabalenka said after her post-match exchange with Miriam Bley.
Sabalenka will next play fifth seed Paolini after the Italian swept aside fourth-ranked Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3. Sabalenka beat Paolini in straight sets en route to the title in Miami last month.
A beaten finalist three times in a row from 2021 to 2023, Sabalenka has never won in Stuttgart. Ostapenko, ranked 24 in the world, won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a clash of past and present French Open champions. Swiatek has now lost all six matches against the Latvian, with Saturday’s defeat the first on clay.
Swiatek came into the match with an 11-1 record on the Stuttgart clay, but Ostapenko won the first four games and broke Swiatek’s serve three times to win the opening set.
The Pole fought back to send the match to a deciding set, but Ostapenko regained control, winning 12 of the opening 15 points on the way to victory.
Ostapenko will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the semi-finals on Sunday, with the final on Monday. Alexandrova continued her underdog run by dumping out third seed Jessica Pegula in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4.
Pegula reached the final at the Miami Open in March and won the Charleston Open earlier in April but did not have an answer against her 22nd-ranked opponent, who knocked out Mirra Andreeva in the last 16.
After failing to win a game in the first set, Pegula saved three match points at 5-2 down in the second. She fought off two more at 5-4 but could not hold on.
Alcaraz to face Rune in Barcelona Open final
Carlos Alcaraz cruised into his third Barcelona Open final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Arthur Fils on a breezy Saturday and will face Holger Rune, who demolished Karen Khachanov.
Eight days earlier, in the Monte Carlo quarterfinals, Frenchman Fils had won the first set and forced Alcaraz to fight for victory. On Saturday, the Spaniard took control from the start, breaking serve in the third and fifth games of the opening set as Fils struggled with the swirling conditions.
“I started the match really focused on my game and being in a good position every time to hit the right shots,” Alcaraz said after the win.
Alcaraz broke again in the third game of the second set and only stuttered when he squandered his first two match points with a double fault and a wild drive, before clinching victory.
After winning in Monte Carlo last week, Alcaraz remains perfect on clay this season. He has not lost in Barcelona since 2021. He won the tournament in 2022 and 2023 before missing last year’s event with an arm injury.
“Being in a final in Barcelona again means a lot in front of my people, in front of my friends,” Alcaraz said.
Earlier, world number 13 Rune outclassed Khachanov 6-3, 6-2. The 21-year-old Dane did not face a break point in the first set, but broke to love in the seventh game and broke again in the ninth. Khachanov, ranked 27th, suffered another break in the second game of the second set, with Rune consolidating for a 3-0 lead.
Zverev sets up birthday bash with Shelton in Munich
Alexander Zverev will face Ben Shelton in the Munich ATP final on his 28th birthday, after a straight-sets win over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan on Saturday.
Zverev, the top seed on home soil in Munich, won 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, as he targets a third title at a tournament he won in 2017 and 2018.
“It was a pretty good match. I felt calmer on the court, only had a weak game in the first set,” said the third-ranked Zverev. “The entire week has been amazing… and hopefully I can have another great day tomorrow.”
The final is the 38th of Zverev’s career and first since he lost to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open in January. Zverev broke early in the opening set to run out to a 2-0 lead, but was broken back on the way to a tie-break, which the German dominated.
Marozsan fought hard but was pushed into repeated errors by Zverev, who increasingly had the home fans on his side. The 77th-ranked Marozsan fought off two match points but could not do so a third time, allowing Zverev to reach Sunday’s final.
Earlier on Saturday, American world number 15 Shelton came from a set down to beat Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4. Outclassed in the opening set, the 22-year-old American’s fightback began in the second with an early break.
Cerundolo, ranked 22nd in the world, hit back to force a tie-break, but Shelton won it to level the match. The players exchanged breaks to open the third set before Shelton broke again in the last game to pinch victory and reach the fourth ATP final of his career.
Shelton said after the match he was still working to improve on clay. “Not everything is straightforward and perfect on the clay. You’re gonna get broken more… but you can also break more,” said Shelton.