Iga
Swiatek left a fun moment at the
Madrid Open awards ceremony after reacting
startled to the confetti explosion. The Pole defeated
Aryna Sabalenka in an
epic final 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) and secured the title she was missing on the
surface.
The Queen of Clay achieved her 9th WTA 1000 and 20th professional title of her
career. Swiatek has 8 of her titles on clay (including 3
French Open titles)
and continues to extend her record as the best player on the surface in recent
years.
Epic Swiatek - Sabalenka final
Rarely
do the world No. 1 and No. 2 liven up a tournament final. The Swiatek-Sabalenka
duel was also a rematch of last year's final where the Belarusian took the
title. This time they delighted fans with the longest final in the tournament's
history at 3 hours and 11 minutes, surpassing the 2018 final between Petra
Kvitova and
Kiki Bertens.
With
an extraordinary outcome where both saved match points to stay in the game for
the title, Swiatek finally claimed the victory. The world No. 1 continues to
distance herself at the top of the WTA Rankings and couldn't hide her
excitement at securing the win.
At the
awards ceremony, emotions were still running high for both players, and Swiatek
had a fun reaction after receiving the trophy as she reacted to the noise of
the confetti explosion and jumped startled at a moment when she almost dropped
the champion's trophy.