A third straight Swiatek-Sabalenka final in the cards?
Swiatek beat world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart final before the result was reversed in the Madrid final two weeks later.
Given their strong run of form, will the world’s top two square off in the championship decider in Rome?
Swiatek is the two-time defending champion and the 21-year-old Pole crushed Sabalenka in the Rome semi-finals last year on her way to the title.
That was a very different Sabalenka, however, to the one we are seeing right now, who is a Grand Slam champion, and the tour-leader in match-wins and titles captured in 2023.
“What she (Iga) did last season and what she keeps doing, it really motivates me a lot to improve, to keep working hard,” Sabalenka told reporters in Madrid last Saturday following her hard-fought three-set final win over the two-time Roland-Garros champion.