Rybakina beats Kostyuk to win her third title this year

Elena Rybakina has eased to her third title of the season with a 6-2 6-2 win over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in Stuttgart.

Rybakina, the world No. 4, who defeated top-ranked No.1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, saved the three break points she faced and took four from six opportunities to win in 69 minutes.

It is Rybakina’s tour-leading 26th win of the year. Sunday’s Stuttgart title comes after wins in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi this season. The Kazakh player’s previous clay-court wins were in Rome in 2023 and Bucharest in 2019.

“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. She will rise to a career-high ranking of 21 on Monday.

The 27th-ranked Kostyuk was under pressure from the start as Rybakina broke her serve and sealed the first set in just 30 minutes.

Kostyuk had surprised herself with her run to the final, including three consecutive wins over top-10 players Zheng Qinwen, Coco Gauff and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova. Kostyuk saved five match points against Zheng in the round of 16.

“I have to say, how incredibly proud I am to see so many Ukrainian flags out here this week. Thank you so much, guys, for coming,” Kostyuk said.