Aryna Sabalenka had barely finished celebrating her significant Madrid victory when reporters immediately turned the conversation to her future prospects on clay. Asked after securing her third Madrid crown if she believed she could conquer Rome or Paris next, Sabalenka responded with a weary laugh. “In my mind, in my dreams, yes I can,” she admitted. “But sometimes reality differs. I will certainly go out, compete, and fight to see if my dream becomes reality.”
Sabalenka came close to a Rome title just last year, making a strong run to the final. However, she was defeated by Iga Swiatek in a decisive match (6-2, 6-3). Swiatek recently accomplished the rare “Red-Dirt Double” in 2024 by winning both Madrid and Rome back-to-back, notably defeating Sabalenka in both finals.
Now, having won Madrid in 2024, Sabalenka has another opportunity to achieve this challenging double herself by winning the Rome title. She would join an exclusive group: Dinara Safina, Serena Williams, and Iga Swiatek. Here are the stories of the women who have completed the Red-Dirt Double:
Dinara Safina 2009
Her first tournament as the WTA Tour’s No. 1-ranked player came that year in Stuttgart. While Safina lost to archrival Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, she was about to set off on a 16-match winning streak, the most significant of her career.
Safina, then 23, was a powerful player who possessed an unusual affinity for clay. “To be honest, I loved that surface,” she said in Madrid. “I knew that some of my biggest opponents, like Serena [Williams], it was not their best surface. I felt like on clay I have more chances to beat them because it’s slower than grass or hard courts. That’s why it was giving me more confidence.”
Training predominantly in Valencia, Spain, she would finish her career with a 101-38 (.727) record on clay, by far her strongest surface. The Italian Open was played before Madrid that year, and Safina advanced to the semifinals to face No. 4 seed Venus Williams.
Safina dropped the first set in a tiebreak but rallied to win 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4.
“The only time I won against her — the rest I was picking up the balls,” Safina recalled. “That one was pretty nice, but the same year at Wimbledon I lost 6-1, 6-love.”
Safina secured a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Rome final against Kuznetsova, making only 15 unforced errors, half of her opponent`s total. She collected $350,000 for the win.
“I had in my head that I had lost three finals this year,” Safina said at the time. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to have this that I’m losing finals.’”
Next came the transition to the noticeably faster courts in Madrid.
“The most difficult thing is the concentration through the whole period,” Safina explained. “After winning the tournament [Rome], you go to the next and you are very excited. And then it’s like, `OK, you have to come back down to earth — back to work. Back to … to suffer.’”
Safina dropped only one set en route to the Madrid final and had another straightforward match there, defeating Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4.
“Serena lost early, so the draw was pretty open,” Safina noted. “And I had a good draw to take my chances.”
“I came in very confident, playing well at the time. I was very happy to win that one.”
At Roland Garros, Safina conceded only five games on her way to the quarterfinals but saw her 16-match winning streak end there against Kuznetsova in the final.
Serena Williams 2013
The year prior, she had won in Madrid during the experimental blue clay era. By 2013, however, the traditional burnt-sienna courts were back.
This period represented peak Serena, in the midst of arguably her greatest season, marked by 12 titles and a 78-5 (.940) record. She had already won in Brisbane, Miami, and Charleston that year.
Her path through Madrid was typical of her dominance; she dropped just one set in six matches. Facing No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova in the final, with the No. 1 ranking at stake, Williams delivered.
Sharapova seemed to have her best opportunity in eight years to defeat Serena. She was undefeated in sets in the tournament and on a 25-match winning streak on red clay. Yet, it was Williams` first red-clay final in over a decade.
Despite Sharapova`s form, Williams handled her 6-1, 6-4 in an anticlimactic final that lasted only 75 minutes. It marked her 50th career singles title and her first on red clay since the 2002 French Open.
Afterward, Serena attended the press conference wearing a red t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “Bestest Ever.”
Smiling, she remarked, “Every time I play, I really relish it more. I feel like, honestly, Serena, when are you going to get tired? I don’t know.”
Rome followed much the same pattern. Losing only 10 games in her first four matches, Williams overwhelmed Simona Halep in the semifinals, setting up a final against No. 3-ranked Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka, a two-time reigning Australian Open champion and former No. 1, had won their most recent encounter.
The final score was a commanding 6-1, 6-3 for Williams, her 24th consecutive match win and 16th straight on clay. In her trophy speech, she demonstrated her proficiency in Italian.
She would extend both streaks in Paris, adding seven more wins to each total over the next two weeks. Williams defeated Sharapova again, 6-4, 6-4, in the final to claim her second of three Roland Garros titles.
Iga Swiatek 2024
“It’s hard to relive it,” Swiatek said of the 2024 Madrid final, “because there are not many matches that are so intense and on such a high level. Sometimes the finals are actually a bit worse level than quarterfinals or semis, because the players are a little bit tight. But me and Aryna, we put on a great show, for sure. I just thought that because, you know, also for the fans I think it was great to watch it.”
Calling the 2024 Madrid final “great” might be an understatement. Swiatek’s 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7) victory over Aryna Sabalenka is widely considered the best match of the year. Swiatek not only avenged her loss in the 2023 Madrid final but also saved three match points during the thrilling encounter.
The marathon match lasted 3 hours and 11 minutes, making it the year’s longest final.
“That match was, yeah, it was a ball-buster,” Sabalenka commented before this year’s Madrid tournament. “That was amazing match, even though I lost it. This is like nothing I can be upset with, to be honest. I did my best there, and she just outplayed me.”
The slower clay surface in Rome proved more advantageous for Swiatek. In the Internazionali BNL d`Italia final, she defeated Sabalenka more comfortably, 6-2, 6-3. This marked Swiatek’s third Rome title in four years and her eighth victory over Sabalenka in 11 meetings.
Furthermore, it was Swiatek’s eighth consecutive win in a championship final.
“I kind of knew that if I’m going to work hard and if I’m going to be in the right mindset, this is achievable,” Swiatek told reporters. “I’m happy I was so focused and disciplined throughout the tournament to do that.”
Rome joined Roland Garros and Doha as tournaments where Swiatek has claimed the title three times.
“For sure this match looked a little bit differently than in Madrid,” Swiatek said. “I felt like I was putting a lot of pressure. I just continued doing that throughout the whole match. Really proud of myself and really happy.”
Rupert Caldwell