By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, April 25, 2021
Ashleigh Barty used a nine-game surge to rally past Aryna Sabalenka, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 and capture her 11th career title, including her third of 2021, in Stuttgart.
Photo credit: Marijan Murat/Getty
Escalating problems and pressure confronted Ashleigh Barty in her Stuttgart debut.
The world No. 1 met every moment with shrewd solutions.
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The top-seeded Barty surged through nine straight games defusing dangerous Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to capture her 11th career title at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
It's Barty's second clay-court crown and first since she claimed her maiden major at the 2019 Roland Garros. Barty did it on the strength of her third straight Stuttgart comeback win.
The Aussie celebrated her 25th birthday with a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 comeback conquest of Elina Svitolina yesterday after the Ukrainian served for the final. That victory came after 2018 Stuttgart champion and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova served for the quarterfinals against the Aussie. She continued the Barty Party today becoming the first reigning world No. 1 to win Stuttgart since Justine Henin in 2007. Barty is bidding to become the first to sweep both singles and doubles championship since Lindsay Davenport did it 20 years ago.
Both women own strong finals records—Barty improved to 11-5, while Sabalenka dropped to 9-5 in title matches—but Barty's versatility, adaptability and mental strength going the distance proved pivotal in her Stuttgart title run. Barty raised her record to 20-3, including a 9-1 mark in three-setters in 2021, while Sabalenka, who played a confident opening set, fell to 3-6 in three-setters as she suffered an adductor injury, left the court for a medical timeout after the second set and lost her range during that nine-game slide.
"Something happened to my adductor so I couldn't move," Sabalenka said after her first career clay final. "Yeah, I called physio, I was hoping it was going to help, but it didn't help. I gave it all today, so I was fighting for every point, even with this pain I had today."
Barty has beaten Grand Slam singles or doubles championship in all three of her finals wins this season, stopping Garbine Muguruza to win the Yarra Valley Classic, defeating Bianca Andreescu in the Miami Open final earlier this month and turning it around against Australian Open doubles champion Sabalenka today.
The hard-hitting Belarusian was calm and controlled, erasing early break-point pressure before banging out the lone break of the opening set in the eighth game.
Launching herself up and out on a second serve, Sabalenka drew a netted reply snatching a one-set lead after 38 minutes.
Playing first-strike tennis with good shape on her topspin shots, Sabalenka served 62 percent, won 17 of 21 points played on her first serve and erased all three break points she faced.
Versatility, slick racquet skills and the ability to make mid-match adjustments separate Barty from other elite players. The top seed used the chip-and-charge to pressure the Belarusian and converted her sixth break point when Sabalenka sprayed a couple of forehand sitters.
When the fifth seed gets tight, her default grip-and-rip style combined with shrinking spin margins can prove costly. Sabalenka hit herself into a triple-break point hole. Anticipating a crosscourt forehand, Barty drilled a running forehand off the intersection of the service line and sideline for the double break and a 4-0 lead.
As Barty continued to mix length and spins of her shots, Sabalenka struggled to keep the ball between the lines. Barty is unsettling because she can defuse pace with the slithering slice backhand, play heavy topspin off the forehand or drive her crosscourt forehand with a mix of topspin and sidespin forcing opponents off the court in pursuit.
The 22-year-old Belarusian bashed a backhand into the net surrendering serve to complete the second-set bagel.
"She played very well, of course," Sabalenka said. "I just gave her opportunities and she took it and that's it. It's good to know how she is playing on the clay. She's playing really good.
"As I said her game is more for a clay court, she's moving well, using her shots pretty well and it's always tough to play against her. She's a great player, she's No.1, she's on top and yeah, she's a great player."
Following the second set, Sabalenka left the court for a medical timeout.
Returning to the court with her right thigh taped, Sabalenka was met with more pain. Barty skipped a forehand off the sideline and smacked her fifth ace out wide sealing a love hold for her seventh straight game.
Both women are Grand Slam doubles champions; Barty's smooth transition skills and clarity in the front court furthered separation. Sabalenka bungled a pair of drop shots and scattered a forehand wide as Barty broke again taking a 2-0 lead with her eighth straight game.
The 2019 Roland Garros champion rolled her third straight love hold for 3-0. By then, the Aussie had won 20 of the prior 23 points as Sabalenka tried to smile off her free-fall, but looked adrift.
Just when she looked down and out, an emotional Sabalenka stopped the slide at nine games holding for 1-3. Then the Australian Open doubles champion exploited a sloppy service game from Barty, including a double fault and a couple of errors, breaking back to get right back on serve.
Digging in, Barty went back to baseline ball control and when Sabalenka slapped her sixth double fault, the Aussie had the break back and a 4-2 lead.
It's one thing recognizing pivotal moments in matches, it takes an entirely different set of skills to master those moments. Barty battled through a long six-deuce game, saving three break points along the way, bamboozling the power player with a low slice holding for 5-2.
On her second championship point, Barty slice a serve in the hip wrapping her 11th career title in one hour, 47 minutes and earning the keys to a new lime green Porsche in the process.