WTA roundup: Sabalenka advances to fourth Stuttgart final as Svitolina claims Rouen title on clay

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka secured her spot in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final for the fourth time in five years, defeating No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy 7-5, 6-4 in Sunday's semifinal match in Stuttgart, Germany.

The one-hour, 35-minute contest saw momentum shifts in both sets. Sabalenka jumped to a commanding 3-0 lead in the opening set before Paolini fought back to level at 5-5. With Paolini serving for a chance to claim the first set, Sabalenka broke serve and subsequently closed out the set.

The second set featured a role reversal, with Paolini establishing an early 3-0 advantage. However, the Belarusian star rallied to erase the deficit, breaking the Italian's serve at 4-4 before successfully serving out the match.

Sabalenka, who has reached the Stuttgart final for the fourth time, will face Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in Monday's championship match. Ostapenko advanced by defeating Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Sabalenka holds a perfect 3-0 head-to-head record against Ostapenko, including a victory on clay in Rome last season.

While Ostapenko claimed her only career grand slam title on clay at the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros, Sabalenka, despite winning three major championships, has never progressed beyond the semifinals at the French Open.

In Rouen, France, top-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine demonstrated her clay court prowess by defeating No. 3 seed Olga Danilovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-6 (8) to capture the Open Capfinances Rouen Metropole title on Sunday.

The victory marks Svitolina's 18th career title—her seventh on clay surfaces—and her first championship since May 2023. The Ukrainian needed just under two hours to overcome Danilovic, saving two set points in the tiebreaker before converting her fourth match point.

Svitolina's impressive career finals record now stands at 18-4. She maintained perfect form throughout the tournament, not dropping a single set all week.

SportsLigue