Unseeded Jerena Ostapenko crushed the world’s number one Alina Sabalenka 6-4 6-1 on Monday to win the Stuttgart clay court title.
Sabalenka was struggling with his first serve in the fourth final in Stuttgart’s clay after losing a showcase match in 2021-23.
In her first clay court tournament since last year’s French opening, the Belarusian broke in her first game.
World number 24 Ostapenko, who expelled the world’s second-largest Iga Swiatek in the first half of the tournament, scored three more breakpoints at 4-2, but could not convert any of them while the Belarusians were hanging.
Sabalenka carved her first break just to get straight back before Ostapenko closed out the first set.
In the second set, the pair got an early break, but the Latvians scored 16 of their 18 points, beating Sabalenka twice to get a 5-1 lead.
Another volatile Sabelenka service game passed Ostapenko two match points and confirmed the title of her first single when she fired the winner of the sensational cross-court forehand in her second serve.