Aryna Sabalenka, World No. 2, defeated Danielle Collins in the semifinal of the 2024 Italian Open to set up another final against Polish World No. 1 Iga Swiatek. This is their second consecutive finals appearance after playing the 2024 Madrid Open title-match. Fans were eager to react to claims that the WTA has become predictable.
Swiatek and Sabalenka played a marathon final in Madrid that was won by the Pole 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7).
In Italy, the pair continued their impeccable form. Swiatek defeated Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinal on May 16 in Rome. Meanwhile, Sabalenka got the better of high flying Collins 7-5, 6-2. Interestingly, Collins has won 19 out of her last 21 matches and both her losses were against Sabalenka.
With another WTA 1000 final slated between the World No. 1 and World No. 2, there have been claims that the WTA has become predictable.
"WTA being so predictable is ruining a lot of the tournaments. Same players in the finals over and over. Repetitive and dull," one fan wrote on X.
Several fans defended Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka's dominance calling it "consistency". They also discussed how a similar dominance in the ATP Tour was not questioned.
One fan commented: "I thought the problem was that it was inconsistent and it was never 1 and 2 in finals. And the mens side was always consistent?"
"Haven’t you all been complaining for more than a decade that WTA is too unpredictable, what happened to that," another fan wrote.
"Lol like the last time top 3 players were in semis 11 years ago ... same people complained for years that wta was so unreliable and unpredictable during ATP big 3 era where 3 peolle werw always in finals ....," wrote a third fan.
A fourth fan wrote: "So atp for 15 years?"
"Rome had Rafa or Novak or both in the final for consecutive years. just say you hate women's tennis and move on," wrote a fifth fan.
"So, #1 and #2 making it to the finals is predictable? Weird, when this happens in the ATP tour is called "consistency"," wrote yet another.
Italian Open 2024 final between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will be the fifth time they meet in a final
22-year-old Iga Swiatek and 26-year-old Aryna Sabalenka have dominated women's tennis in recent times. Their meeting in the 2024 Italian Open final will be the fifth time they meet in a title-match. All five of these finals have been on clay.
Swiatek defeated Sabalenka in the final in Madrid two weeks ago. Along with that, she has got the better of Sabalenka at the Stuttgart Open finals in 2022 and 2023. The Belarusian's only win came in the Madrid Open final last year.
Swiatek will be bidding to win her third Italian Open title and becoming only the third WTA star to bag the Madrid and Italy titles in one season after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013). On the other hand, Sabalenka will be vying for her first Italian Open title.
The pair has faced each other 10 times, overall, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka winning three. Iga Swiatek will face Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, May 18, in the 2024 Italian Open final.