Aryna Sabalenka is once again back at the WTA Stuttgart Open in 2025 \u2013 and is determined to finally win her first title at the event.<\/p>\n
The world No 1\u2019s experience playing at the famed WTA 500 tournament has so far been bittersweet, reaching three finals but ultimately tasting defeat on all three occasions.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka<\/a> was beaten by then-world No 1 Ashleigh Barty in the 2021 final, before consecutive losses to Iga Swiatek \u2013 also ranked as the No 1 \u2013 in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n After a surprise quarter-final defeat to Marketa Vondrousova in 2024, the three-time Grand Slam champion is determined to triumph in 2025 \u2013 and win the tournament\u2019s iconic prize.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to finally win the Porsche this year,\u201d said Sabalenka.<\/p>\n \u201cI lost three finals here against No 1s, so I was, like: \u2018Okay, I have to do it. I have to come back here as the world No 1.\u201d<\/p>\n However, her campaign in Stuttgart is off to a rather bizarre start, with the Belarusian now not set to play until Saturday.<\/p>\n Here, we look at the weird set of circumstances that have delayed Sabalenka from stepping onto the court.<\/p>\n A 28-player draw in Stuttgart means that, while the majority of players have to play a round-one match \u2013 and potentially five matches to win the title \u2013 the top four seeds get a bye into the second round.<\/p>\n That includes Sabalenka, who, as the world No 1, is the top seed in the Stuttgart draw.<\/p>\n Second seed Swiatek began her campaign with a confident 6-2, 6-2 second-round win over Jana Fett on Wednesday, while third seed Jessica Pegula and fourth seed Coco Gauff start on Thursday.<\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek break silence on sending letter to Grand Slams about prize money<\/a><\/p>\n Elena Rybakina hires new team member after key recent departure and coaching saga<\/a><\/p>\n After receiving a round-one bye, Sabalenka was then meant to face Anastasia Potapova in the second round to start her campaign.<\/p>\n World No 38 Potapova impressed with a battling victory over Clara Tauson earlier in the week, saving a match point to beat the Dane 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-3.<\/p>\n However, the Russian was then forced to pull out of the tournament due to injury.<\/p>\n Though a lucky loser would be brought in to replace Potapova if this were an opening-round match, WTA rules prevent this from round two onwards \u2013 even if a player received a round-one bye.<\/p>\n That means that, having already received a pass into the second round, Sabalenka was then handed a walkover straight into the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n And, that means that \u2013 in unique circumstances for this year \u2013 she faces a wait until Saturday to finally play.<\/p>\n State rules in Baden-Wurttemberg, of which Stuttgart is the capital and largest city, prevent sporting events from taking place on certain bank holidays.<\/p>\n With Friday (April 18) being Good Friday, the action inside the Porsche Arena will be paused for one day, with the tournament resuming on Saturday.<\/p>\n The first day back will see all four quarter-finals take place, before the semi-finals on Sunday, and the final on Monday.<\/p>\n That means that, having not played from Monday to Friday, Sabalenka will have to play and win three matches in the space of three days if she wants to lift the title.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit awkward,\u201d conceded Sabalenka. \u201cBut I messaged her [Potapova] to find out if everything is okay.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have adjusted the practice schedule a little, and there\u2019s gym time for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabalenka will face former doubles partner Elise Mertens when she finally takes to the court.<\/p>\n Mertens impressed with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over eighth seed Diana Shnaider in her second-round match, having beaten Aliaksandra Sasnovich in round one.<\/p>\n Read Next<\/strong>:\u00a0Explained: Why leading Stuttgart contenders face a Monday final at WTA 500 event<\/a><\/p>\n The post Explained: Why Aryna Sabalenka is yet to play at the WTA Stuttgart Open<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aryna Sabalenka is once again back at the WTA Stuttgart Open in 2025 \u2013 and is determined to finally win her first title at the event. The world No 1\u2019s experience playing at the famed WTA 500 tournament has so far been bittersweet, reaching three finals but ultimately tasting defeat on all three occasions. Sabalenka […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why will Aryna Sabalenka not play until Saturday?<\/h4>\n
Tennis News<\/h2>\n