Elena Rybakina strolls to Stuttgart title in straight-sets win over Marta Kostyuk

Elena Rybakina easily defeated Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-2 on Sunday to win the Stuttgart Open, her third title of the year.

Rybakina adds the Stuttgart title to her wins at the Brisbane International and the Abu Dhabi Open this year. This was Kostyuk's second final defeat of 2024, after losing the decider at the San Diego Open in March.

"I want to congratulate Marta of course, been a great tournament, great matches you played here, you're playing really amazing and hopefully we'll play many more finals," Rybakina said.

The Kazakhstani fourth seed broke to love in the first game and cruised through the first set, breaking again to make it 5-2 before holding to love.

Kostyuk had no answer, and when her opponent broke serve again in the first game of the second set, the unseeded Ukrainian slumped to her knees.

Rybakina, who defeated world number one and two-time champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, showed no mercy, and Kostyuk forced her only break point of the match when trailing 3-2 in the second set.

If there was going to be a comeback, this was Kostyuk's chance, but the 21-year-old appeared to be in tears as she failed to capitalise on three break points, constantly looking frustrated at her coach in the crowd.

Rybakina held serve, then broke again to make it 5-2, leaving her to serve for the match. After hitting ten aces in her victory over Swiatek, she didn't need any to defeat Kostyuk.

"It's an amazing event and I hope to be back here every year, thank you," Kostyuk said.

SportsLigue