Ashleigh Barty and Aryna Sabalenka booked their place in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final to set up their second meeting in just 25 days.
World No.1 Ashleigh Barty celebrated her 25th birthday with a come-from-behind victory over fourth seed Elina Svitolina to reach the Stuttgart title match on her tournament debut.
Svitolina was serving for victory at 5-4 in the second set, but Barty forced a tiebreak and recovered from 4-2 down in the breaker to take the set. Barty controlled the decider after an amazing break in the third game when she converted her sixth break point and took a commanding lead after breaking Svitolina again at 4-2.
In the semifinal, Svitolina hit nine aces to Barty’s one, still, the Australian prevailed 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2.
Barty is also through to the doubles final. Partnered with Jennifer Brady, Barty defeated Vivian Heisen and Wang Yafan 6-1 7-5. Their opponents in Sunday’s final, which is scheduled right after singles final, will be Desirae Krawczyk and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Lindsay Davenport was the last player to triumph in both singles and doubles in Stuttgart 20 years ago.
Barty’s opponent in Sunday’s singles final will be fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka, as the Belarusian saved all three break points she faced and converted three of her nine break points to defeat second seed Simona Halep 6-3 6-2 in 66 minutes.
Barty and Sabalenka are tied at 3-3 in their head-to-head record. Their last encounter happened just 25 days ago, as Barty defeated Sabalenka in the Miami Open quarterfinals en route to the title.
