Hailey Baptiste stuns Aryna Sabalenka, saving six match points in Madrid Open nail-biter

1, had won 15 consecutive matches across three tournaments and looked on her way to 16th until Baptiste, the quickly improving American with a smooth all-court game and a dangerous mix of power and spin, caught fire in the second set Tuesday night. Baptiste barely missed long stretches, carried the momentum into the third set and outlasted Sabalenka down the stretch in a nail-biting s

MADRID — Aryna Sabalenka finally lost a tennis match. Hailey Baptiste took it from her. Sabalenka, the world No.

1, had won 15 consecutive matches across three tournaments and looked on her way to 16th until Baptiste, the quickly improving American with a smooth all-court game and a dangerous mix of power and spin, caught fire in the second set Tuesday night. Baptiste barely missed long stretches, carried the momentum into the third set and outlasted Sabalenka down the stretch in a nail-biting sequence of games and then a tiebreak for a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(6) win. Baptiste saved six match points, inflicting Sabalenka’s first defeat having held even one since the 2023 Madrid Open.

The American appeared to confuse Sabalenka with the combination of her slice backhand and whipping forehand. For a good while, Sabalenka spent as much time twisting her neck to watch balls whizz past her as she did setting up winners of her own. Sabalenka has been mostly flawless this year.