Rybakina rolls to third title of the season in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Germany -- World No.4 Elena Rybakina captured her third Hologic WTA Tour title of the year on Sunday after defeating No.27 Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. 

Stuttgart is Rybakina's eighth career title and third on clay, following wins at 2023 Rome and 2019 Bucharest. The 24-year-old leaves Germany with the outright lead in titles this season, adding Stuttgart to a collection that includes Brisbane and Abu Dhabi. The victory over Kostyuk was her tour-leading 26th win of the season.

"I always believe in myself, of course, but it's not only depends on me," Rybakina said. "There is a lot of great players, tough opponents. But I know if I feel fresh, if I'm physically ready, healthy, I'm playing my game, of course I have all the chances to win a Grand Slam on any surface."

Playing in her fifth final of the season, Rybakina opened the match by breaking Kostyuk's serve and never looked back. With efficient serving, the tour's ace leader sealed the first set after just 30 minutes. She lost just one point behind her first serve (15 of 16) and did not face a break point. Rybakina won 30 points to Kostyuk's 17.

Rybakina came into Sunday's final after snapping World No.1 Iga Swiatek's 10-match win streak at Stuttgart, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinals. 

"I knew that I have to be focused from the beginning, and also, compare the match with Iga, it's a lot different," Rybakina said. "Marta is coming forward, trying to take the ball early. She moves well. But still, the speed is different, and I was focusing not to rush, also to try to open the angle."

Facing down a confident Rybakina turned out to be a bridge too far for Kostyuk, who engineered a groundbreaking week in Stuttgart to make her second final of the year. In the midst of the best season of her career, Kostyuk will rise to a new career-high ranking of No.21 on Monday. 

The 21-year-old Ukrainian came into Sunday having tallied three straight Top 10 wins, defeating No.7 Zheng Qinwen, and reigning Slam champions No.3 Coco Gauff, and No.9 Marketa Vondrousova. Her win over Zheng in the Round of 16 was a remarkable one. Kostyuk saved five match points in stunning fashion to oust the Australian Open finalist. 

"Every morning I didn't know what to expect from myself on the court today," Kostyuk said, "because really me being able to pull off this whole week and play an amazing tennis yesterday was something incredible and something I would never expect I can do.

"But today, obviously I was very nervous. I wanted to win a lot this one, and yeah, I think there were a lot of things together. Yeah, I just couldn't probably bear it anymore."

Coming into the final with a 1-1 record against Rybakina, Kostyuk could find no inroads against the World No.4. Kostyuk struck just six unforced errors in the first set, but Rybakina's baseline aggression extracted 16 forced errors. 

Rybakina continued her momentum in the second set to close out the win after 1 hour and 9 minutes. She finished the match unbroken, saving all three break points she faced.

Doubles Comeback: Chan Hao-Ching and Veronika Kudermetova came from a set and a break down in the final to defeat Ulrikke Eikeri and Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3 [10-2] to take the doubles crown.