Jelena Ostapenko topples No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Stuttgart final

Field Level Media|published: Mon 21st April, 16:22 2025

Jelena Ostapenko makes a hit to Elena Avanesyan in the women’s singles round 2 during the Cincinnati Open, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. Avanesyan won 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko completed her first run to the winner's circle since February 2024 when the Latvia native took down No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Monday in Stuttgart, Germany.

With the upset, Ostapenko improved to 3-1 in her career against No. 1-ranked players. The win came two rounds after Ostapenko defeated World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the quarterfinals, improving to 6-0 against Swiatek all-time.

On Monday, Ostapenko capitalized on Sabalenka's service miscues and won 20 of 31 second-return points (64.5 percent). Sabalenka won just 44.6 percent of her total service points (29 of 65) and lost all four of her service games in the second set.

Ostapenko had not won on clay since the 2017 French Open, her only Grand Slam title to date.

The final was held Monday because the tournament took off Friday due to a state rule prohibiting sporting events on Good Friday.

--Field Level Media