Aryna Sabalenka defeats Naomi Osaka at Mutua Madrid Open in just third meeting between both players
Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka don't have a lengthy on-court history.
Despite their excellent runs in the women’s rankings over the years, Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka haven’t met much on the tennis court. Since both players have been active, they’ve played just two times, with each player taking a win. But Monday gave an opportunity for either Sabalenka or Osaka to take a lead in that matchup, as the players squared off in the Mutua Madrid Open.
While it was a tight match early, Sabalenka found her stride late, winning the match in three sets. The win gave Sabalenka a narrow 2-1 lead in her head-to-head matchups against Osaka. The victory also gave Sabalenka a 15-match win streak.
The 3x former Madrid champ wasn’t going down today 🙂↔️ Aryna Sabalenka continues on a 15-match win streak 🔥 ⁰ #MMOpen pic. twitter. com/US59Rw7TBj — Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) April 27, 2026 While Sabalenka entered with the higher ranking — No.
1 overall — it was Osaka who got off to the better start. Both players kept the first set close, sending it to a tiebreak. But when the dust settled, Osaka emerged as the winner 7-6, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.