Swiatek, arrows at Sabalenka after defeating her in the final in Madrid: “Is it still boring?”

Iga Swiatek says it was “the most intense and crazy final” he’s ever played. The Pole avenged her defeat to Arina Sabalenka in last year’s final in Madrid with a grueling three hour 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital on Saturday.

Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving a total of three match points, Swiatek cruised to a huge 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) victory.

It was the first time the world leader won the Madrid Open trophy.

Irony at the opponent

“Well, who’s going to say women’s tennis is boring now, is it?”, Swiatek said after the win.

The Pole’s reaction comes after Sabalenka stated before the tournament that women’s tennis does not really interest her.

“I’m not someone who watches a lot of tennis, I prefer to watch men’s tennis than women’s, I feel there is more logic and it’s more interesting to watch“, said Sabalenka a few days ago.

Swiatek, who claimed her 20th career title and ninth at the WTA 1000 level, has now won her last eight consecutive finals and joins Elena Rybakina with 30 wins this season.

The Pole admitted that she didn’t feel in her best for the first two hours of the match, but she took inspiration from Rafael Nadal and his ability to pick himself up when it mattered most.

“I have I was surprised that in the third set I felt the best mentally”, said Swiatek, who went 7-3 in her career against Sabalenka, a two-time champion in Madrid.

“One thing that crossed my mind was that I think Rafa had a few matches like that.”

“I remember exactly when he played (Daniil) Medvedev in Australia (2022 Open final). And he struggled for a while, he was tense and I think stressed.”

“That gave me some kind of hope that maybe the click will happen for me too, even after two hours.”

Sabalenka, resigned but confident

Despite the defeat, Sabalenka feels she has regained her best form, which saw her successfully defend her Australian Open title in January.

The world number two admits her level dropped after Melbourne, but the long battles in Madrid helped her get back to her best fighting form.

She said the narrow defeat was “hard to take” but was proud of her efforts against her other “big three” rivals, Rybakina and Swiatek, this fortnight.

“I really want to see many more finals against her.” Sabalenka said.

“I really hope that we will be able to raise the level every year. I am very happy to be part of these “Big Three”, as you call us.”

“It really motivates me to keep working and keep improving just to hang in there and get as many wins as possible against them.”