Sabalenka Overcomes Osaka in Gripping Battle to Reach Madrid Open Quarter-Finals.
World No 1 under pressure before 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 victory. Winner will face Hailey Baptiste in the next round.
Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, battled past Naomi Osaka 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 in a tense and high-quality encounter on Monday to book her place in the Madrid Open quarter-finals. The Belarusian, who has already secured titles in Miami, Indian Wells, and Brisbane this season, was forced to dig deep after being pushed by the former world No 1 in a match that swung dramatically after she dropped the opening set and fell behind in the second.
Despite the early setbacks, Sabalenka found a way to steady herself and ultimately overpower her opponent.
“I was just trying to take one ball at a time, and my team was there for me. They really [pushed] me to keep fighting, and I’m really happy I didn’t give up, and I was pushing until the very last point,” said Sabalenka.
The opening set between the two four-time Grand Slam champions was tightly contested, with serve largely dominating proceedings. Sabalenka created the only break point of the set, but Osaka saved it to hold for a 2-1 lead. The set eventually came down to a tie-break, where Osaka took complete control, racing into a 5-0 lead before sealing it as Sabalenka pushed a return wide under pressure.
In the second set, Sabalenka raised her intensity, but Osaka, ranked world No 15, continued to resist strongly. The Japanese star saved three break points and even carved out a break of serve to lead 2-1, briefly putting Sabalenka under renewed pressure. However, the Belarusian responded immediately, breaking back to love and reasserting control before breaking again in the eighth game and serving out the set to level the match.
From there, Sabalenka’s power and consistency began to tell. The world No 1, who has only suffered one defeat this year — against Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final — took command of the deciding set. She broke Osaka in the fifth and seventh games, while the Japanese player struggled to create any sustained pressure on serve.
Sabalenka closed out the match in authoritative fashion, serving to love and finishing with an ace to secure her place in the last eight, where she will face American Hailey Baptiste.
“She’s an incredible player, we had a really tight match in Miami, and especially here in Madrid, where I think this surface suits her game,” Sabalenka said. “She played incredible tennis. I feel like I just got lucky in a couple shots in the third set, that’s why it went that fast. I’m happy she brought that fight; I had to fight through to level up my game.”
In the men’s draw, Norway’s Casper Ruud delivered a dominant performance to defeat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-1 and move into the last 16, while Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over Daniel Merida.