Jelena Ostapenko joins illustrious list of women to defeat World No.1 and No.2 at same event on clay following Stuttgart Open title run

Latvian tennis star Jelena Ostapenko accomplished several feats following her title run at the 2025 Stuttgart Open, amongst which was being one of few women to take down the two best players in the world at a clay event.

The 27-year old is no stranger to clay, having won her only Grand Slam title at the 2017 French Open. However, Ostapenko played some of the best tennis of her career to deny World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka the elusive Stuttgart title, sending the big-hitting Belarusian packing with a comprehensive 6-4 6-1 victory.

The former World No.5 looked impressive during her run in Stuttgart, However, she saved her best tennis for the final, overpowering a stunned Sabalenka. Even more impressive was the fact that Ostapenko had defeated World No.2 and former champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, improving to 6-0 in career meetings against the Polish superstar.

Ostapenko's victory on Sunday saw her achieve a rare feat on the WTA tour, she became the first woman since American tennis legend Serena Williams to defeat the World No.1 and World No.2 on clay at the same event. Williams last accomplished this feat at the 2012 Madrid Open, where the 23-time Grand Slam champion made quick work of No.2 ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinal, before cruising past then-World No.1 Victoria Azarenka in the final. This would be the second time Williams had accomplished such a feat, having defeated No.2 Jennifer Capriati and World No.1 Venus Williams at the 2002 French Open.

Moving up six spots to World No.18, Ostapenko joins an exclusive list of women to accomplish this feat. Besides Williams, tennis greats such as Gabriela Sabatini (Amelia Island 1989), Steffi Graf (French Open 1999), Justine Henin (French Open 2003) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (French Open 2009) have all overcome the odds to achieve this impressive statistic.