Daily Tribune'I was trying to read her serve, and in the beginning everything worked.'
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ELENA Rybakina celebrates after pulling off a 7-5, 6-1 win over Karolina Muchova to win the WTA Stuttgart indoor clay-court title on Sunday.
THOMAS KIENZLE/ AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) — Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina picked up her second title of the year as she outclassed Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-1 to win the WTA Stuttgart indoor clay-court tournament on Sunday.
Top seed Rybakina, 26, snatched a tight opening set with two breaks against her seventh-seeded Czech opponent after 53 minutes on court in Germany.
The Kazakh never looked back in the second set rushing to a 5-0 lead as Muchova struggled with her serve, sealing victory and the 13th title of her career after one hour and 18 minutes.
Rybakina, who finished runner-up at Indian Wells last month, regained the title she won two years ago and drives off with a second Porsche sports car — the coveted prize awarded to the champion in Stuttgart.
"I was trying to read her serve, and in the beginning everything worked," Rybakina said.
"Then she started to serve a bit better, harder, and even knowing where the ball is coming and it was kind of on the racquet, but I was missing the shots. So it went pretty tight in the first set.”
"In the second, I was just trying to be more solid. I think the return improved. I was managing to see where she was gonna serve."
Muchova had lead Rybakina 2-1 in previous meetings heading into the title match having won their most recent clash on hard court in Brisbane in January.
Rybakina had a relatively smooth run this week dropping only one set and dispatching her toughest opponent world No. 6 Mirra Andreeva by the same score on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Muchova had eliminated French Open champion Coco Gauff in three sets in the quarter-finals but she was no match for two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina.
Rybakina dominated the early part of the first set but the former Wimbledon champion had to wait until her third set point on Muchova's serve, to clinch it.
The world No. 2 then cruised to victory, winning seven games in a row between the end of the first and the second set.
The 2024 champion has won two titles at one event for the first time in her career and her fifth title on clay in the build-up to the French Open next month.
Muchova, the 2023 Roland Garros runner-up, was playing the first 500-level final of her career.
"It was a really good week for me," Muchova said.
"I beat players I have never beaten before. I had some tough battles. Of course, it could have been a little better but I have to give credit to Elena. I think she played really well, really fast. I was probably a little bit tired from the last two matches that I played here, but all credit to her."
