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.”

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In a match of fine shot-making and fine margins, the Polish world No 1 suffered her first defeat in three visits to the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart, a 10-match unbeaten run coming to an end as Rybakina edged a tight deciding set to prevail 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. 

Two months after she ended a run of three straight losses against the 24-year-old from Kazakhstan to win the Qatar Open, a fourth defeat in six meetings with Rybakina leaves Swiatek with food for thought. This was the first defeat of her career in a clay-court semi-final, and her second reversal in two matches with Rybakina on the red dirt, after she was forced to retire with a leg injury early in the deciding set of their semi-final meeting at last year’s Italian Open. 

Nonetheless, Swiatek is as unlikely to dwell on the significance of losing on an indoor clay court laid on wood, conditions a world away from those she will encounter at Roland Garros next month, as she is to fixate on her record against Rybakina. She leaves Stuttgart with a pair of solid wins over Elise Mertens and Emma Raducanu, and perhaps a quiet sense of relief that she will no longer have to face the challenging post-match questions posed by Heinz Günthardt, a former top-30 player whose entertaining on-court interviews with the Pole have been a highlight of the week.

“She had struggles with some injuries, but every time she’s healthy she is playing well,” said Swiatek when asked what makes Rybakina such a tough opponent. “There are specific aspects of her game that are hard, but I wouldn’t say there is one specific [thing]. She’s a good player. That’s all.”   

In a contest that once again highlighted Rybakina’s ability to discomfit Swiatek with her heavy serve and flat, penetrating groundstrokes, it was invariably the player who landed the first big strike that came out on top in the baseline exchanges. Swiatek, three of whose four grand slam titles have come at the French Open, is normally able to make her supreme movement and athleticism tell on clay, staying in points long enough to counterpunch in the rare passages when she is unable to dictate from the back of the court. Here, though, Rybakina’s weight of shot nullified that advantage, instead placing a premium on holding serve. No factor was more decisive than the former Wimbledon champion’s ability to fend off all but two of the 13 break points she faced. 

“Iga moves really well and she likes to dominate in the rally,” said Rybakina after reaching her fifth final of a season in which she has notched up a tour-leading 25 wins. “With me, it’s difficult because I play fast, I play flatter, and also like to move the opponent. 

“It’s a matchup where we are both pushing each other, both trying to dominate in the point. I think, of course, my serve helps a lot.”

That much is undeniable. Given Swiatek’s ability to stretch a lead, Rybakina’s repeated success in warding off danger on serve was never more crucial than when she saved a pair of break points to avoid going a double break down at the start of the match. Had the Pole broken then, she might have run away with the set – and, given the rarity with which she is beaten after going ahead, the match. Instead, Rybakina pulled off a run of five straight games, putting the onus on Swiatek to hold. The top seed rose to the challenge impressively, saving 14 consecutive break points until she was finally broken in the fifth game of the decider.

“I doubted my serve a little bit in the third set,” said Swiatek. “For sure it wasn’t easy to see her winning her service games pretty easily, and me struggling on every game. I think at the end it made a difference.”

In the final, Rybakina will face Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian world No 27, who defeated Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets to reach her second final of the season. Kostyuk, who was beaten by Britain’s Katie Boulter in last month’s San Diego final, continued an extraordinary week’s work with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory over the Wimbledon champion, although the outcome was in the balance when she found herself in a first-set tiebreak after holding a 5-1 lead.

For Kostyuk, the first Ukrainian to make a final in Stuttgart, it was merely the latest in a series of cliffhangers. Taken the distance in each of her first three matches, the 21-year-old saved five match points against Qinwen Zheng, while an impressive three-set win over Coco Gauff came only on her eighth match point.

“I came here on Saturday and I practised four days before my first match, and really I was playing worse and worse with every day,” said Kostyuk. “I was, like, ‘OK, time to play some matches, because I don’t want to practise any more.’ I was not feeling great at all. I’m not talking about physically, but generally I didn’t feel good on court. 

“In tennis, everything is very close. It’s like you can really feel very bad, but then have the best week of your career, like happened to me. 

“I think its [about] trusting the process. I really excelled this week, and I tried in every match to just do as much as I can, and things are getting better.”

With three top-10 wins behind her – over an Australian Open finalist and the reigning US Open and Wimbledon champions, no less – how dearly Kostyuk would like to maintain her stellar trajectory against Rybakina on Sunday.

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Given that the Polish world No 1 conceded all of 15 games in the previous four rounds, that gives you some idea of what Marta Kostyuk was up against in her first WTA 1000 semi-final.

After reaching a first grand slam quarter-final at the Australian Open in January and a maiden WTA 500 final last month in San Diego, it has been a breakthrough season for Kostyuk. But the 21-year-old Ukrainian’s momentum came crashing to a halt against Swiatek, who produced a near-flawless display to reach her second final in three years in the California desert.

“It’s already a great tournament, so I’m really happy,” said Swiatek following her 6-2, 6-1 victory. “I didn’t really have any moment today in the match where I didn’t feel confident.”

Swiatek will face Maria Sakkari on Sunday in a repeat of the 2022 final. The 28-year-old Greek, in resurgent form in her first tournament since hiring David Witt as her coach, survived a topsy-turvy, rain-delayed battle against Coco Gauff, holding her nerve to prevail 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 after missing match points in the second set. 

In a contest full of big hitting and athleticism, the first seven games went with serve before rain intervened. When play resumed about 20 minutes later, Sakkari capitalised on an error-strewn service game from Gauff to snatch a vital break, but no sooner had the Greek served out the opener than the heavens opened again. The hiatus seemed timely for Gauff, who required medical attention after complaining of nausea, but the third-seeded American returned two hours later in ragged form, falling 5-2 behind.

The contest looked to have run its course, but Gauff had other ideas. The US Open champion has struggled to find her best form in recent weeks, but whatever she has lacked in quality, she has compensated for with tenacity and resilience. Just as she did after falling a set and a break down against Clara Burel in her opening match, Gauff set about cancelling out the deficit, opening her shoulders, saving three match points, and eventually levelling the match on a tiebreak.

“That second set could have been different, but I was thinking of that finish line too much,” said Sakkari. “I was just thinking too much, how to close out the match. That didn’t really help me. It freaked me out a little bit. I was too nervous.”

As Sakkari reflected afterwards, losing would have been “the easy way out”. Instead, she embraced the challenge, digging in to recover from an early break in the decider and claim a cathartic victory.

“I just wanted to challenge myself one more time and see what I can do after losing that second set,” said Sakkari. “I also kept telling myself that you’re not the first or the last person that loses a set or a match.  

“I just bought into the game style where I had to be more aggressive and mix it up a little bit. I think that I was too predictable in the end of that second set. I’m just happy that I was able to close that out.”

There were no such problems for Swiatek, whose quality and consistency slowly suffocated Kostyuk’s challenge after an encouraging start by the Ukrainian. The blazing backhand winner with which the world No 32 wrapped up an emphatic opening game offered an early reminder of her firepower, but she was never able to reproduce such moments often enough to trouble the top seed.

There were times when Kostyuk looked capable of beating anyone. When she stepped inside the baseline and used her withering power to open up the court. When she rifled a backhand approach down the line and angled away a forehand volley. Whenever she had enough time to connect with a forehand that is among the biggest in the women’s game. Her downfall was rooted in an inability to repeat such moments consistently. She has the ingredients but, at this level, the recipe needs refining. 

Kostyuk would finish with 23 unforced errors to just six by Swiatek. Her woes were compounded by an excellent serving performance from the Pole, who made almost three-quarters of her first serves, winning 83% of those points, and did not face a break point throughout.

“I think it was a great match for me today,” said Swiatek. “I have all positive vibes.”

Swiatek has now won a tour-leading 19 matches this season. She will be a strong favourite to make it 20 against Sakkari on Sunday. 

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The 19-year-old American preserved her unbeaten start to the season with a resourceful but unsightly 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 win that featured plenty of spirit and determination but also a whopping 51 unforced errors. In that sense it was by far the dirtiest of what is now, following her triumph at last year’s US Open, a dozen straight grand slam victories for Gauff, who will nonetheless need to improve significantly if she to repeat the victory over Aryna Sabalenka that earned her that maiden grand slam success.

The one saving grace for Gauff was that Kostyuk, a 21-year-old from Kyiv ranked 35 in the world, was even more erratic. Playing in the first major singles quarter-final of her career, Kostyuk was unable to capitalise on a 5-1 lead in the opening set, twice missing set points as nerves – and, later, frustration – got the better of her. So too did an unforced error count that had reached 56 by the time Gauff, who joked afterwards that she ought to read Winning Ugly, the seminal book written by her coach Brad Gilbert, rounded off the longest grand slam match of her career in three hours and eight minutes.

“It was a fight,” said Gauff of a contest played in sweltering conditions. “I think today was definitely a C game, so I didn’t play my best tennis, but I’m really proud that I was able to get through. Hopefully, I got the bad match out of the way.

“I bought a copy [of Winning Ugly] but I didn’t read it. Maybe I should add it to my reading list. My mom actually got it for me when we were in the talks of just possibly working with Brad, and she was like, ‘You need to read this.’ She read it and I didn’t read it. 

“But I feel like I got the real version, so I don’t need a book. But maybe it could help. I’ll probably do it just to surprise him.”

After a performance that stood in marked contrast to Gauff’s seamless progress through the first four rounds at Melbourne Park, there may already be some surprise on Gilbert’s part. Yet for all the fourth seed’s struggles, huge credit must go to Kostyuk, a gifted athlete and powerful ball-striker who, at a tournament where she has striven to highlight the ongoing war in her native Ukraine, once again demonstrated tremendous mental and emotional resilience. 

Despite the disappointment of missing two set points in the opener – the second, a rushed inside-out forehand at 6-5 in the tiebreak, was a particular source of dismay – Kostyuk kept coming, breaking at the start of the second set, breaking again when Gauff served for the match in the ninth game, and even pulling back a couple of games from 5-0 down in the decider. Set to enter the top 30 for the first time following her run in Melbourne, Kostyuk is rightly ringing the positives.

“For me, it’s a win, because I was playing one of the best girls in the world and managed to be still very close,” said the Ukrainian. “It feels far, but also very close. This whole tournament I think is a big win for me.”

Whether it will also be a big win for Gauff will depend on how quickly she can put this performance behind her and make a rapid return to form against Sabalenka. Through to a sixth straight grand slam semi-final after demolishing Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3, the Belarusian defending champion has yet to drop more than three games in a set in Melbourne.

“I think my mindset is that I’m not getting crazy on court, I’m not rushing things,” said Sabalenka, the second seed, of her newfound consistency on the game’s biggest stages. “I’m just playing point by point, and that’s it, and fighting for every point without overthinking about my dreams, about what I want to do, about how many slams I want to win and all that stuff.  

“I was able to separate myself from that kind of mentality and just start focusing on myself and focusing on things I can improve.”

Sabalenka’s focus was certainly admirable against Krejcikova, particularly after a late start caused by the length of the day session, which overran when Gauff’s epic win was followed by a protracted struggle between Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz. 

Sabalenka and Krejcikova, who eventually arrived on court well after 9pm, were controversially asked by tournament organisers if they would care to play on Margaret Court Arena, which has about half the capacity of Rod Laver Arena. Understandably, they declined.

“I think for the quarter-finals match, it’s important to be played on such a big stadium,” said Sabalenka.

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Like other Ukrainian players, Kostyuk, the world No 39, has declined to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents since the Putin regime’s invasion of her country. But when the 20-year-old made straight for the umpire’s chair following her 6-3, 6-2 defeat, jeers rang out around Court Philippe Chatrier, stopping Sabalenka in her tracks as she mistakenly assumed she was the target of the crowd’s scorn.

In the confusion that followed, Sabalenka sought guidance from the chair umpire – “Was that for me?” she asked – before performing a theatrical bow. But as Kostyuk departed to further boos, the penny dropped, Sabalenka returning to the court to acknowledge the crowd with greater sincerity. 

After a major Russian drone attack on her home city of Kyiv only hours earlier, Kostyuk was understandably upset by the crowd’s reaction.

“I want to see people react to it in 10 years, when the war is over,” said the 20-year-old. “I think they will not feel really nice about what they did.

“What happened today, I have to say, I didn’t expect it. I did not, but I have no reaction to it. People should be honestly embarrassed, but this is not my call.”

Sabalenka, who acknowledged her bewilderment over the bizarre conclusion to the match, said she did not take Kostyuk’s refusal to shake hands personally and expressed sympathy for the Ukrainian over the manner of her exit.

“I couldn’t understand what’s going on,” said Sabalenka, who has an opportunity to overtake Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings over the next fortnight. 

“We all know Ukrainian girls will not shake hands with us, so it’s kind of not a surprise for us, but probably the public today was surprised. 

“They saw it as disrespect me as a player, so that’s why [they were] booing her.  But at first I thought they were booing me. I was a little confused, and I was, like, ‘Okay, what should I do?’

“I understand why they are not shaking hands with us. I can imagine if they shake hands with us, what’s going to happen to them from the Ukrainian side. 

“And I understand that this is not personal. I think she didn’t deserve to leave the court that way.”

Controversy was perhaps inevitable, given the underlying tensions surrounding the contest. Asked beforehand about the prospect of Kostyuk not engaging in the customary post-match pleasantries, Sabalenka said there was nothing she could do if her opponent hated her, adding: “I don’t feel anything like that to her.” 

Kostyuk offered an intelligent and articulate response, rejecting Sabalenka’s suggestion that the boundary between sport and politics should not be crossed and arguing that the Belarusian, as a potential world No 1, had a responsibility to speak out. 

“We’re talking about people being murdered and we hear, ‘Leave sports out of politics.’ War doesn’t choose if you’re an athlete when it comes to your home,” said Kostyuk.

“I’ve never said in an interview or in private to Aryna that I hate her. I don’t know how to comment on why she talks about it like that.  

“For me, this is not about emotions, because hate is an emotion. It’s about respect.

“We aren’t at the level of kindergarten, when someone says they love you or hate you. Love and hate are emotions. Respect is not. 

“I cannot respect this position when it comes to events that change the world like war.”

The exchange meant both players carried emotional baggage on to court and, while Kostyuk attempted to play like a woman with nothing to lose, standing well inside the baseline to return serve, her anguished expression told a different story. Even so, the Ukrainian is an imposing, athletic presence, and if ever there was a danger of Sabalenka getting the yips, the sight of the Ukrainian looming halfway up the court was always likely to uncover it.

Sure enough, a pair of double faults in the fifth game handed Kostyuk the first break of the match. From there, though, Sabalenka was devastating, turning on the power to run Kostyuk ragged as she reeled off six successive games.

Afterwards, Sabalenka was pressed by a Ukrainian journalist to spell out her position on the war.

“Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, supports the war” replied the Australian Open champion. 

“Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody, normal people will never support it.  

“Why we have to go loud and say things? This is like one plus one, it’s two. Of course we don’t support war. If it could affect anyhow the war, if it could stop it, we would do it. But unfortunately, it’s not in our hands.”

Kostyuk remained unmoved when Sabalenka’s words were put to her.

“You know, she never says that she personally doesn’t support this war,” said Kostyuk. “She should talk for herself I think, first of all. Then, talk about all the other athletes.

“I personally know athletes from tennis that support the war. To say ‘nobody’ is a little bit strong, because I think you can only speak for yourself.”

Elsewhere, Maria Sakkari, the eighth seed, was beaten by the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova for the second year in a row. 

“I knew what to expect from her,” said Muchova, the world number 43, following her 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 victory. 

“We played last year I think twice on the clay [in Madrid and Paris]. Actually, I rewatched some matches, and I just stuck to the plan to be aggressive, mix it up with slices, drop shots, to get her out of the rhythm.”

Jessica Pegula, the third seed, came through a tough first-round assignment against Danielle Collins, the former world No 7, 6-4, 6-2.

In the men’s draw, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was made to work hard by Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, a former world No 35 now languishing at 455 after struggling with injury since last year’s US Open. Tsitsipas, a finalist at Roland Garros two years ago, prevailed 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) to set up a second-round meeting with Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena.

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Kostyuk, who earlier this year called for a ban on Russian and Belarusian players unwilling to denounce the Putin regime’s invasion of Ukraine, which is supported by Belarus, said she had warned the former world No 1 of her intentions in a text message. 

“I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do in the circumstances I’m in right now,” said Kostyuk, the world No 65. 

“It was just my choice. I don’t know any single person who condemned the war publicly and the actions of their government, so I don’t feel like I can support this. We had a great match, don’t get me wrong. She’s a great competitor, I respect her as an athlete, but that has nothing to do with her as a human being.”

Azarenka, who played down the significance of the frosty conclusion to her first meeting with Kostyuk, declined to elaborate on her feelings about the incident. 

“I don’t believe that making a big deal out of it is important,” said the two-time Australian Open champion. “I always shake hands with my opponents. I had the same situation with [Daria] Yastremska in Washington. It is what it is. I just move on. I cannot force anybody to shake my hand. It’s their decision.

“How did it make me feel? It’s not the most important thing in the world right now.”

Since war broke out in February, Kostyuk has repeatedly expressed her disappointment over the failure of Russian and Belarusian players to speak out. She reiterated her view that high-profile contemporaries such as Azarenka should be using their profile to denounce the Russian offensive.

“Some of them have such big fanbases, they have people supporting and looking out for them from all over the world,” said Kostyuk, 20. “Having the fanbase that they have, [they] don’t use it in the right way, and to spread the good message: that they don’t support the murders, the rapes, the genocide that is happening.”

Kostyuk’s comments came barely a week after she took aim at Azarenka over her planned participation in the US Open’s Tennis Plays for Peace exhibition event, which raised $1.2m for humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. In the face of opposition from Ukrainian players – not least Kostyuk, who declined her invitation to play on learning of the Belarusian’s inclusion – the United States Tennis Association announced on the day of the event that Azarenka would not be involved.

“Everyone’s trying to be super democratic about this,” said Kostyuk. “My nation is being killed daily. Imagine there is world war II and there is a fundraiser for Jewish people, and a German player wants to play – during the war, not 70 years after the war. I don’t think Jewish people would understand.”

Azarenka rebuffed a suggestion from Kostyuk that her role on the WTA player council made it incumbent on her to speak out about the war – “with all due respect, I don’t think she has any idea of what I do on the player council, because she’s not there,” said the 33-year-old – and insisted she was “open any time to listen, to try to understand, to sympathise”. The Belarusian added that her desire to support the Ukraine fundraiser was “a no-brainer for me”.

“Why wouldn’t I participate in a humanitarian aid [event] for people who are really struggling right now?” said Azarenka. “It’s not even a thought for me at that moment.

“I thought that [participating] was a gesture that really shows commitment. I’m not sure why it wasn’t taken it that way. I don’t want to judge that, that’s what happened.  

“I make steps towards help, towards listening, and if it’s not received, again, it’s a simple thing. I can’t force it. I’m not going to go and say, ‘Oh, how dare you?’ It’s not my place. My place is to be there to offer, offer my help, and that’s it.”

Iga Swiatek, the world No 1, suggested that a lack of leadership on the part of the game’s governing bodies in the early days of the war had made strained relations inevitable.

“I think the best time for the ATP or the WTA to do anything was when the war started, and where the tension was pretty big in the locker rooms,” said Swiatek, who continued her serene progress through the top half of the draw with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory over former US Open champion Sloane Stephens.

“Maybe next time it’s going to be easier for us to handle it if somebody is going to guide us and somebody is going to, I don’t know, even arrange some meetings between players and show that we should be united. 

“Even though there are countries who are invading other countries, we are tennis players. It’s sad, but it’s not our fault that it’s happening. I think it would be much, much easier at the beginning to do that. Right now, it’s kind of too late, I think, to fix that.”

Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka almost left it too late to fix things against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia before staging a remarkable recovery from a set and 5-1 down. Sabalenka, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows last year, saved two match points in the second-set tiebreak – one with the help of a net cord – to advance 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4.

There was no such luck for Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa, however, who was beaten 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-2 by Petra Martic. Azarenka awaits the Croatian in round three. 

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