Ash Barty has celebrated her birthday weekend with a victory at the Stuttgart Open with a third consecutive win in the final against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
The tennis star, who turned 25 on Saturday, later won the double titles on Sunday with her American partner Jennifer Brady.
To top the weekend off, Barty received her 68,570 Euros ($107,090) winner’s cheque and a new Porsche following her singles win.
Barty won against the Belarusian with 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to secure her third singles title for the year.
In her third day of wins over Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina, Barty dropped the first set but managed to recover, demonstrating her skill as the world’s best player.
At the end of a tough second set, Sabalenka needed a medical timeout. In the decisive final set, the Belarusian was in tears at one of the changeovers, struggling with her heavily-strapped right thigh and Barty’s all-court game.
“It’s been an incredible week, and an incredible start for us on what will be a long journey,” said Barty, who now holds big-event wins in both the US and Europe as she returns to the global circuit.
“I’m enjoying every minute and very grateful for doing what I love here in Stuttgart.”Despite suffering from a painful abductor muscle issue that flared up in the first set, Sabelenka conceded, saying, “She’s number one, she’s on top and she’s a great player.”
This latest win comes as Barty’s 10th successive victory over a fellow top-10 player and saw her jump to the top of the WTA’s ‘Race to Shenzhen’, the order of merit system used to identify the top female player each year.
It was also her first European tournament on clay since her 2019 French Open triumph.
After just over an hour’s rest, the young Aussie joined forces with Australian Open finalist Brady to defeat US pair Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Desirae Krawczyk 6-4, 5-7.
Following her three-and-a-half hours on the court, Barty celebrated becoming the first player to win both finals at the same Stuttgart tournament since American Lindsay Davenport 20 years prior.
This article originally appeared on Over60.