World No 1 Iga Swiatek moved into the Stuttgart Open final on Saturday after her opponent Ons Jabeur retired injured three games into the first set. The Pole will face Aryna Sabalenka in a repeat of last year’s final after the Belarusian’s comfortable straight-sets victory over Anastasia Potapova.
Jabeur was on a seven-match winning run after recovering from surgery earlier this year but appeared to hurt herself during the last point of the first game. Fresh from her title win in Charleston earlier in the month, the world No 4 took a medical timeout but after playing on with her left calf bandaged for two more games she decided to stop with Swiatek 3-0 up.
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“I really tried, but at that point I don’t know what happened,” said a tearful Jabeur. “I was excited to play Iga and seeing that the stadium is full. I am sorry about it.”
Sabalenka needed just 58 minutes to storm into her third straight Stuttgart final with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Potapova. The reigning Australian Open champion, who last year lost to Swiatek, broke her opponent twice to race into a 4-0 lead.
Potapova was playing catch-up throughout and looked vulnerable on her weak second serve. She was equally helpless in the second set with Sabalenka breaking early again and taking the first eight points. The world No 2 then raced back from 30-0 down with a string of big serves at 5-2 to finish off the game and reach her fourth final of the year.
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Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has pulled out of next week’s Madrid Open, the world No 1 joining Rafael Nadal on the sidelines. Djokovic, who was unable to play in the US hardcourt swing earlier this year because he has not been vaccinated against Covid, was preparing for the clay season but got knocked out early at the Monte Carlo Masters and Banja Luka Open.