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Stuttgart (AP) - The world number one Ashleigh Barty won the title on her debut in Stuttgart.
The Australian tennis player won the final against the five seeded Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus 3: 6, 6: 0, 6: 3.
As the successor to 2019 winner Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic, Barty received almost 55,000 euros and a car from the title sponsor.
The 2019 French Open winner became the first number one in the world since Belgian Justine Henin in 2007, who won the title in Stuttgart.
Even on the day after her 25th birthday, the Australian proved her intelligent and variable game, which is in contrast to the powerful style of her ailing opponent.
Power woman Sabalenka, who had not given Wimbledon winner Simona Halep a chance in the semifinals, initially controlled her tendency to aim for points that were too fast and risk too many mistakes.
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Number five on the seeding list secured the first break of the match to make it 5: 3, a little later the first set went to the 22-year-old from Minsk.
The faster clay court in the Porsche Arena met the 1.82 meter tall right-hander.
Barty had already shown in the past few days that she can come back after setbacks and she continued to exude calm.
As a type, she is the quieter in contrast to the Japanese second in the world rankings Naomi Osaka, who is a bit more of the "showgirl", said the tournament's sports director, Anke Huber.
In the second set, the top seed of the world number seven did not leave a game win.
Sabalenka then left the field, was treated and bandaged on her right thigh.
After Barty won nine games in a row, Sabalenka came up a little, but the Australian celebrated her eleventh title.
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Success should help her to endure the months of distance to her home.
She currently has no plans to return to Australia before the US Open in late summer.
She was a "couch potato" and liked being with her family, she had said.
Last year, after the Corona break in the season, she refrained from traveling around the world and paused for almost a year.
This break was different, but not completely unusual for Julia Görges' good friend.
As a young talent, the whole circus with the constant traveling was too much for her at some point.
After the 2014 US Open, Barty quit tennis, she was burned out.
She moved back to live with her family in Ipswich, Northern Australia, went fishing, gave a few coaching lessons and played cricket.
The return to tennis paid off.
Barty won her only clay court title in 2019 at the French Open.
In the early preparation for Paris, she showed that she could be expected again at the Grand Slam tournament.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210425-99-346829 / 2
Tournament tableau
World ranking
Barty and Switolina in direct comparison