Elena Rybakina won the Stuttgart Open title for the second time in her career as she earned a straight-sets victory over Karolina Muchova in Sunday's showpiece match. 

Rybakina, who was also crowned the champion in 2024 by defeating Marta Kostyuk, repeated the trick here with a 7-5 6-1 triumph in one hour and 18 minutes. 

The top seed started with intent as she broke Muchova in the second game to race into a 3-0 lead, but her opponent stayed in touch and managed to level things up at 5-5. 

However, Rybakina was able to regain her composure to ensure a tie-break would not be needed, claiming the early advantage in the contest at the third time of asking.

And from there, Rybakina stamped her authority as she reeled off the opening five games of the second set to tee her up nicely on the way to clinching the crown in Germany. 

Muchova was able to get herself on the board, but that was only to delay the inevitable, with Rybakina sealing the win with a blistering serve that the seventh seed returned long. 

"Thank you to all the sponsors and everyone who made this tournament possible," Rybakina said. "It really feels like home, and you just want to come back every year."

Data Debrief: Lucky 13 for Rybakina

Rybakina dropped just one set en route to the final, though she needed to save two match points during a last-eight thriller against Leylah Fernandez.

She has now won two of the three finals she has contested this year, only losing at Indian Wells to Aryna Sabalenka, while this was her 13th WTA singles title, and just the second time she has emerged triumphant at a tournament more than once. 

In addition, Rybakina is now just the fourth active player to win 5+ WTA-level titles on multiple surfaces, after Venus Williams, Elina Svitolina and Iga Swiatek.