Aryna Sabalenka's luxury problem: What's forcing her to buy a new car
After her fourth final defeat at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the Belarusian joked that there's only one way left for her to get behind the wheel of the tournament's iconic prize: buy it.
'I'm glad I can afford this car,' Sabalenka grinned after losing to Jelena Ostapenko in Sunday's final. 'After this final, we're gonna order one — because I guess this is the only way for me!'
The Stuttgart event, also known as the Porsche Grand Prix, awards its champion with a gleaming £97,000 electric Porsche Macan Turbo. Sabalenka has now reached the final four times — and left empty-handed each time.
Between 2021 and 2023, she lost three straight finals to world No 1s. This year, she was the world No 1, and figured it was finally her turn. But Ostapenko had other plans.
Porsche pursuit turns personal
The Porsche had become something of a personal mission for Sabalenka — part trophy, part grudge match, part dream car.
'I lost three finals here against No. 1s,' she said before the tournament. 'So I was like, 'OK, I have to do it. I have to come back here as the world No. 1'. I want to finally win the Porsche this year.'
Instead, she watched another player drive off in it again — and delivered the most expensive joke of the tournament.
But now that she's finally (sort of) accepted her Stuttgart fate, Sabalenka's ready to swap heartbreak for horsepower. She might not have won the Macan on court — but she's still planning to make it hers.
Next stop: Madrid magic
Still, there's bigger clay to conquer. Sabalenka now turns her focus to the Madrid Open, where she's a two-time champion and one of the favourites to go all the way again.
Last year, she pushed Iga Swiatek to the edge in a three-hour epic that was named WTA Match of the Year. This time, she's hoping to finish the job.
Blockbuster match
'That match was a blockbuster,' she said. 'If I can play like that on clay again, I think I have big chances.'
She'll open against either Anna Blinkova or Panna Udvardy in round two — and will do so under a new spotlight: Madrid has introduced live electronic line-calling on clay for the first time.
'I prefer Hawk-Eye,' she shrugged. 'Sometimes referees are too weak to admit they made a mistake.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
Gauff ends Boisson run to set up French Open final with Sabalenka
Coco Gauff reached her second final at Roland-Garros by beating Lois Boisson 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday to end the surprising, upset-filled run by a French wild-card entry who is ranked No. 361. The victory by No. 2 Gauff sets up a blockbuster championship match against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday. Sabalenka is a three-time major champion and earned a shot at a fourth by ending Iga Swiatek's 26-match French Open winning streak. Sabalenka's 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 win in the semifinals prevents Swiatek from becoming the first woman to win four consecutive championships in Paris. Coco Gauff reacts as she plays against Lois Boisson during their semifinal match. AP This will be just the second No. 1 vs. No. 2 women's final at the French Open in the last 30 years. It's also a rematch of the 2023 US Open final, in which Gauff beat Sabalenka to claim her first major trophy at age 19. Gauff was the runner-up to Swiatek at Roland-Garros in 2022. Much to the chagrin of the 15,000 or so locals pulling for their countrywoman under a closed roof at Court Philippe-Chatrier on a drizzly day, Gauff vs. Boisson wasn't much of a contest, as might be expected from their rankings and relative experience. Then again, that didn't stop Boisson from eliminating both No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Mirra Andreeva en route to becoming the first woman since 1989 to get to the semifinals in her Grand Slam debut. Loud as the crowd was, repeatedly singing Boisson's first name, Gauff's play spoke volumes, too, as she took 20 of the first 30 points for a 4-0 lead. That pattern held, and by the end, Gauff had claimed 34 of the 51 points that lasted at least five strokes. US Coco Gauff (left) shakes hands with France's Lois Boisson. AFP Most remarkable about Sabalenka's win was the way - her back dotted with flecks of the rust-colored clay - she dominated in crunch time, racing through the last set. 'I mean, 6-love,' she said. 'What can I say? Couldn't be more perfect than that.' Swiatek's explanation?: 'I lost my intensity a bit,' she said. 'Just couldn't push back.' With no wind or other elements for the players to confront, both produced some terrific tennis for stretches. But when Sabalenka decided to swing away, she rushed Swiatek into mistakes. This stat says it all: The third set included 12 unforced errors off Swiatek's racket, and zero off Sabalenka's. 'It feels incredible, but I also understand that the job is not done yet,' said Sabalenka, a 27-year-old from Belarus who took the top WTA ranking from Swiatek last October. This continues a rough stretch for Swiatek, a 24-year-old from Poland, who hasn't reached a final at any tournament since walking away with her third trophy in a row - and fifth Grand Slam title overall - from Paris 12 months ago. She recently slid to No. 5 in the rankings. Her rut includes a loss in the semifinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Later last season, she was suspended for a month after testing positive for a banned substance; her explanation was accepted that the result was caused by a contaminated medicine. Sabelanka is, unquestionably, as good as it gets in women's tennis right now. Even before getting to this final, her six appearances in title matches this year were the most for a woman entering the French Open since Serena Williams in 2013. And her first-strike tennis, always such a threat on faster surfaces, is clearly quite useful on the slower clay, too. On Saturday, the thuds generated by her contact with the ball reverberated around the arena. 'She didn't doubt,' Swiatek said. 'She just went for it.' Even though Sabalenka broke in the first game and soon led 4-1 - at which point Swiatek was glancing up at her coach, Wim Fissette, in the stands, hoping for some sort of insight that could change things - this was not one-way traffic. Swiatek ended up leading 5-4 in that set, but when they got to the tiebreaker, Sabalenka asserted herself. Did the same in the final set. The fans seemed mainly to be pulling for Swiatek, perhaps hoping to see a bit of history, and broke into chants of 'I-ga!' rather frequently. That might have rubbed Sabalenka the wrong way, because after striking a return winner, she windmilled her arms at the mild reaction, as if to say, 'Hey! I'm here, too! And I'm No. 1. How about sending some support this way?' Associated Press Sabalenka's 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 win in the semis prevents Swiatek from becoming the first woman to win four consecutive championships in Paris. This will be just the second No. 1 vs. No. 2 women's final at the French Open in the last 30 years
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Khaleej Times
French Open: Sabalenka dethrones four-times champion Swiatek
World number one Aryna Sabalenka battled past four-times champion Iga Swiatek to reach her first French Open final on Thursday with a 7-6(1) 4-6 6-0 victory that ended the Pole's reign in Paris and snapped her 26-game winning streak in the tournament. The Belarusian's power proved too much for the defending champion, who was looking to become the first female player in the Open era since 1968 to win four consecutive titles in Paris. Swiatek had won the previous three editions along with her maiden crown in 2020 The top seed will now play second-seeded American Coco Gauff who beat France's Lois Boisson, the first player in the Open Era to reach this stage of the French Open as a wildcard, 6-1 6-2. "Honestly, it feels incredible but I understand the job is not done yet. I'm just thrilled today with this win and the atmosphere," Sabalenka said. "She's the toughest opponent, especially on clay, especially at Roland Garros. It was a tough match it was a tricky match but I managed." Sabalenka, playing her second French open semifinal and seeking her first title in Paris, powered into a 3-0 lead, twice breaking the Pole. She kept attacking her opponent's serve with Swiatek winning just 35% of her points on her second serve. Swiatek, who late last year accepted a one-month doping ban and came into the tournament without a single title win this season, had reached the semifinals dropping just one set in five matches. But she looked completely out of sorts. With seven unforced errors in the first three games she was playing catchup from the start. The Pole, struggled with her serve and had racked up two double faults by the fifth game. She gradually, however, found her range and precision, countering Sabalenka's raw power with superb ball placement and levelled when her opponent double-faulted on break point. The Belarusian was furious, angrily shouting to her team in the box, before overrunning her opponent in the tiebreak. The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set before Swiatek earned another to level the match. But Sabalenka was not to be denied, breaking the 24-year-old world number five at the start of the third to take control. "I think the pace from her was super fast," Swiatek said. "Especially at the beginning of the match, she played just kind of as hard as possible and pretty risky. So it was just hard to get into any rally." "In the third set I feel like we kind of came back to what happened in the first, and she for sure used her chances, and I didn't really keep up what I was doing in the second set." Sabalenka gave her opponent no chance with her thunderous groundstrokes, powering through the decider as Swiatek ran out of steam. "It could not be more perfect than that," Sabalenka said of her third-set performance. "I'm super proud right now, I'm glad I found my serve (again in the third set)."
The National
a day ago
- The National
Aryna Sabalenka to face Coco Gauff in Roland Garros final after easing past Iga Swiatek
Aryna Sabalenka ended Iga Swiatek's bid for a fourth straight French Open title as the world number one powered her way to a maiden Roland Garros final on Thursday. Sabalenka edged a topsy-turvy first set that featured eight breaks of serve in a tiebreak, before Swiatek hit back to level the match. The finale turned out to be a complete anti-climax as Swiatek made 12 unforced errors in the third set and won only six points. She will now face Coco Gauff in Saturday's title match after the American wrapped up a straight sets victory, 6-1, 6-2, over surprise package and home favourite Lois Boisson of France. 'It feels incredible but also I understand that the job is not done yet. I'm just thrilled with the performance today,' said the 27-year-old Sabalenka. 'What can I say, 6-0 [in the third set] – it couldn't be much more perfect than that!' Sabalenka is targeting a fourth Grand Slam title and first not on hard courts, after winning last year's US Open and the Australian Open back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Swiatek has still not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen 12 months ago. She showed signs of a revival on the Paris clay where she has dominated since lifting the title as a teenager in 2020, but her game deserted her in the deciding set as she slipped to only the third French Open defeat of her career. Sabalenka has now won their last two meetings, and five of 13 in total. This was the first time the pair, the dominant players in women's tennis of the past few years, have gone head-to-head at a Grand Slam tournament since Swiatek's win in the 2022 US Open semi-finals en route to the title. Sabalenka roared out of the blocks as Swiatek double-faulted to give up a break in the very first game. The top seed quickly built a 3-0 lead with a double-break, as Swiatek mustered only four points in the opening exchanges. But Sabalenka's hold in game two proved to be the only one until Swiatek cut the gap to 4-3 to stay within touching distance, before making it four successive games to edge in front. Sabalenka did manage to create a chance to serve out the set, but unsurprisingly, Swiatek broke again to force a tiebreak as the Belarusian lashed a groundstroke long. The three-time Grand Slam champion finally got the first set on the board, though, blasting through the tiebreak as Swiatek eventually cracked. The breaks of serve kept coming in the second set, until Swiatek managed to hold for a 3-1 advantage. The pair belatedly stabilised behind their serves, albeit too late for Sabalenka in the second set as Swiatek held to love to force a decider. The four-time champion had never lost a three-set match at the French Open, but found herself sliding towards defeat as she slipped 2-0 behind in the third. Swiatek, who has built a reputation for dishing out bagels, then wilted under the pressure in a disappointing final set that lasted just 22 minutes.
