Stuttgart Open: Swiatek advances to final after injured Jabeur retires

World No1 Iga Swiatek advanced to her second straight Stuttgart Open final after No4 Ons Jabeur was forced to retire down 30 in the semifinals due to a left calf injury hereSwiatek will face No2 Aryna Sabalenka in Sundays final The Australian Open champion dropped just three games to advance to her third straight Stuttgart final defeating Anastasia Potapova in the semifinalsThe muchanticipated first meeting of the season between Swiatek and Jabeur ended prematurely after the Tunisian began to struggle with her left leg after the first game of the match After chasing down a ball on the last point of the first game Jabeur called a medical timeout and received treatment and tape on her calfThe third point I dont know what happened I was really excited to play Iga today its always a fun matchup between us I wish her the best luck for the final Jabeur said Im sorry guys I really tried to run but Iga never makes it easy she addedJabeur played on for two more games but was visibly hampered in her movement and serve After Swiatek held for a 30 lead Jabeur consulted with the physio one more time before crossing the net to shake Swiateks handThe loss ended Jabeurs sevenmatch win streak She will now race to prepare for her title defense next week at the Mutua Madrid OpenI dont know what Ons situation is but I really respect the fact that she came out and she tried and she wanted to see how its going to go Swiatek saidI told her were probably going to play the Roland Garros final so well see each other there Shes a fighter so shes going to be back quickly I just hope its nothing serious she addedOn Sunday Swiatek will face Sabalenka in a rematch of last years Stuttgart final which the Pole won 62 62 Swiatek leads the headtohead 42 but Sabalenka snapped her fourmatch losing streak last fall by winning their last meeting at the 2022 WTA Finals 62 26 61Swiatek is bidding to become the first player to defend the title since Angelique Kerber in 2016 The 22yearold has yet to lose a match in Stuttgart having now extended her tournament record to 70Sabalenka has also enjoyed consistent success at the Porsche Arena She is into the final for the third consecutive year having finished runnerup to Ashleigh Barty 2021 and Swiatek 2022 For the third straight year she will face a reigning No1 for the titleStuttgart will be Sabalenkas fourth final of the season Adelaide 1 Australian Open Indian Wells and Swiateks third Doha Dubai A win on Sunday would be the 13th title for either playerAlso ReadIga Swiatek Tennis bosses missed chance to ban Russians BelarusiansThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever