Stuttgart, Germany – Latvian Jelena Ostapenko was featured in the Stuttgart Grand Prix Final on Sunday, giving a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow seedless player Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The 27-year-old will meet world number one Arena Sabalenca, who worked hard in a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Italian Jasmine Parini and reached the fourth final in five years.
Ostapenko, who surprised five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swieitok in the quarterfinals, took a break in the first game and got off to a strong start with Alexandrova. She broke straight, but quickly got another one to go up 4-2.
“I don’t know, but I feel it’s surprising here,” Ostapenko said. “It was really exciting. These kinds of matches get three sets and give you confidence. …I’m very pleased with myself.”
Alexandrova struggled with her opponent’s thunder ground strokes, especially her forehand.
Sabalenka, a three-time finalist at Stuttgart from 2021-23, flew to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Paolini fought back before losing 7-5.
The table rotated second, with the little Italian punishing the sloppy Sabalenka to lead 3-0. However, Sabalenka came back to tie it together at 3am, and she fired the winner of the sensational cross-court forehand at the first match point, sealing the victory.
“She makes me work and I work in all respects,” Sabalenka said of Paolini. “It’s hard to get a victory. I was just trying to stay offensive and put pressure on her.”
Reuters contributed to this report.