Tennis has a new rivalry that could take the sport to the next level and ignite the game
Iga Swiatek reacts after winning the Madrid Open
Rivalries have been at the heart of the greatest tennis stories through the generations and we may now be on the of starting a new glorious battle that will drive the women’s game to the next level.
WTA Tour matches have tended to face a losing battle for attention when they share the stage ATP Tour events, as they have done in Madrid over the last couple of weeks and will do in Rome over the next fortnight.
Yet there is no denying that the women’s tournament in Madrid has been far more compelling than the chaotic, decimated men’s event.
Aside from the moving ceremony that signalled the end of Rafael Nadal’s final match in Madrid, journalists covering the ATP 1000 event in the Spanish capital have been writing more medical reports than tennis opinion.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev are just three of the big names who have been undone by injury problems, with all three now battling to be fit for the French Open later this month.
Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the final after seeing three of his opponents fall by the wayside due to injury, with the towering presence of Novak Djokovic also missing from the draw after he decided to skip the tournament.
This set of unfortunate events left the men’s draw looking a little threadbare in Madrid, but that was not the case in the women’s event.
Drama and excitement were served up on a daily basis from the biggest names in the game, with talking points aplenty around big names such as Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka and Ons Jabeur.
Then we had one of the greatest women’s finals seen in recent years, as world No 1 Iga Swiatek played out a compelling contest against No 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek produced a stunning fightback to battle past Aryna Sabalenka and win the Madrid Open title after a high-quality final which lasted more than three hours.
The world number one had taken the opening set before Sabalenka, looking to retain her title at Manolo Santana Stadium, regained momentum to level and then forged 3-1 ahead in the decider.
Swiatek, though, showed all of her experience to mount a recovery and save three match points before coming through a tense tie-break to complete a 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7) victory.
Sabalenka had two championship points when leading 6-5 at the end of the deciding set, but was unable to convert either as Swiatek again dug in to find a winning return at the crucial moment.
The first six points of the tie-break stayed on serve before a booming forehand from Sabalenka brought up a mini-break, but Swiatek immediately recovered again.
With the scores locked again at 5-5, Sabalenka sent a return long to give Swiatek a mini-break and her first championship point of the match only for the Belarussian to produce an ace.
Swiatek was then left serving to save the match after another over-hit forehand, but again Sabalenka could not make the most of her chance, with two long returns swinging momentum back to the world number one.
READ MORE: Iga Swiatek reveals how she was inspired by Rafael Nadal in Madrid Open final
Sabalenka, 25, lashed over another backhand, which dropped just out of the court as Swiatek completed a remarkable recovery.
Swiatek had lost only one set across her five wins in Madrid on the way to setting up a repeat of last year’s final, which Sabalenka had won in three sets.
The 22-year-old Pole, already a three-time champion at Roland Garros, has now secured the one big European clay tournament which had eluded her.
“It is always a challenge playing against you Aryna, so thanks for motivating me and forcing me to be a better player,” Swiatek said on court after winning her 20th career title.
“Thanks to my team for sticking with me through the ups and downs. I hope we are going to continue progressing.”
The prominence of Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the global sporting stage over the last two decades has left women’s tennis facing a losing battle in the fight for attention, with Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty two players who managed to win that battle.
Yet with the ‘Big Three’ in the men’s game either retired or soon-to-be former tennis players, a golden opportunity for the women’s game to steal some of that limelight and what we saw from Swiatek and Sabalenka in the Madrid final should enthuse audiences around the world.
Martina Navratilova’s rivalry with Chris Evert drove women’s tennis in the 1980s, while Steffi Graf’s battles with Monica Seles were much-watch events in the 1990s.
The often one-sided rivalry between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova was also box-office entertainment due to their superstar status, but women’s tennis has not had that heavyweight rivalry to tap into in recent years.
Swiatek vs Sabalenka in the Madrid final was not just one of the best women’s matches we have seen in recent years, as it was one of the best tennis matches served up to a global audience since the glory days of Federer vs Nadal or Nadal vs Djokovic.