In the absence of a driving licence, Elena Rybakina was unable to follow in the tyre tracks of her predecessor. There was never any prospect of the world No 4 speeding on to court in the shiny new sports car she earned for winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, as Iga Swiatek did last year.
In every other respect, though, Rybakina was firmly in the driving seat at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart. A 6-2, 6-2 victory over Marta Kostyuk completed a memorable week for the 24-year-old, who ended Swiatek’s two-year reign as champion in Saturday’s semi-finals and backed up that victory to claim a tour-leading third title of the season.
Pushed to a deciding set in each of her three previous matches, Rybakina was in control against Kostyuk from the outset. Taking on her returns and commanding the baseline exchanges with her easy power, she drove the unseeded Ukrainian from corner to corner to claim a love break in the opening game. From there, Kostyuk’s problems mounted rapidly, Rybakina suffocating her challenge with a combination of irresistible serving, relentless accuracy and penetration off the ground, and some dextrous touches around the net.
“I’m really happy with the performance today, I was solid from the beginning till the end,” said Rybakina after her 26th win of the season.
“I was focusing from the first point and I was trying not to rush, open the angle, trying to come in. She is a tricky player, she likes to go up with the ball then tries to step in, so I was trying to adjust and just be patient.”
The sole moment of jeopardy for Rybakina came in the sixth game of the second set, where she faced her only break points of the afternoon. Kostyuk, her back to the wall after once again dropping serve at the start of the set, fashioned the first opportunity with an audacious return of serve, a viciously sliced drop shot that fizzed across the face of the net and died before Rybakina could arrive on the scene.
Having received that reminder of her opponent’s talent, Rybakina responded with a penetrating 110mph serve out wide to snuff out the danger. But Kostyuk continued to press, and for the first time the former Wimbledon champion’s focus began to slip. When she slapped a forehand long, she cast a beseeching look in the direction of her coach, Stefano Vukov. Moments later, another miss handed Kostyuk a second chance to draw level, one the Ukrainian squandered with a wayward return. Anguished and angry, Kostyuk speared a wonderful backhand down the line for a third break point – only to make another mistake. There would be no more opportunities.
Yet what a week it has been for Kostyuk, who leaves Stuttgart with three top-10 wins, a new career-high ranking of 21, and the knowledge that, in her third tour-level final, she gave all she had left after treading the most gruelling of paths to the title round. Having toiled for more than three hours to subdue Laura Siegemund, saved five match points against Qinwen Zheng, clinched a tenacious victory over Coco Gauff only after missing seven match points, and allowed a 5-1 first-set lead against Marketa Vondrousova to slip through her fingers, Kostyuk’s one regret was that she had so little left in the tank at her moment of greatest need.
“I think 90% my tiredness played a role today,” said Kostyuk. “Every morning I didn’t know what to expect from myself on the court today, because really me being able to pull off this whole week and play amazing tennis [against Vondrousova] was something incredible and something I would never expect I can do.
“But today, obviously I was very nervous. I wanted to win a lot this one, and I think there were a lot of things together. I just couldn’t probably bear it any more.
“It was an amazing week, and I went through a lot of things and I managed to push through and come out on the other side better. This is the only thing I’m focusing on.”
Rybakina, meanwhile, will now focus on what to do with a car she can’t actually drive.
“We are thinking to have it in Dubai,” she smiled. “So it’s going to be for sure Stefano driving, maybe my mum. Hopefully me soon.”