Elena Rybakina had little trouble in seeing off Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 to win the Stuttgart Open on Sunday for her third title this year.
The Kazakhstani fourth seed broke to love in the opening game and cruised through the first set, breaking again to make it 5-2 and then holding to love.
Kostyuk had no answer, and when her opponent broke serve once more in the first game of the second set, the unseeded Ukrainian cut a forlorn figure as she dropped to her knees.
Rybakina, who defeated world No. 1 and winner of the past two Stuttgart titles Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, showed no mercy during the 1-hour, 9-minute victory.
“It’s an amazing tournament, and I’m really looking forward to come back next year,” said Rybakina, who also defeated Jasmine Paolini and Veronika Kudermetova in Stuttgart.
Kostyuk forced her only break points of the match when 3-2 down in the second set, but the 21-year-old failed to take advantage of three break points, constantly looking in frustration at her coach in the crowd.
After holding serve, Rybakina broke again to make it 5-2 to leave her serving for the match. After hitting 10 aces in her win over Swiatek, she did not need any to dismiss Kostyuk.
“I want to congratulate Marta, of course, been a great tournament, great matches you played here. You’re playing really amazing, and hopefully we’ll play many more finals,” Rybakina said.
Rybakina adds the Stuttgart title to her wins in the Brisbane International and the Abu Dhabi Open this year. She has a tour-leading 26 wins in 2024.
For Kostyuk, this was her second final defeat of 2024 after she lost the decider of the San Diego Open in March.
“It’s an amazing event, and I hope to be back here every year, thank you,” Kostyuk said. “I want to say how incredibly proud I am to see so many Ukrainian flags out here this week.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – TENNIS…